International 


EDITED    BY 

WILLIAM  T.   HARRIS,   A.M.,   LL.  D. 


VOLUME  LIT 


INTERNATIONAL  EDUCATION  SERIES 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL 

OE,   LOOKING    FORWARD 


BY 

PEESTON  W.  SEAECH 

HONORARY    FELLOW    IN    CLARK    UNIVERSITY  ;    SUPERINTENDENT 
OF  SCHOOLS,  WEST  LIBERTY,   OHIO,  1877-'83  J    SIDNEY,  OHIO, 

1883-'88;  PUEBLO,  COLO.,  i888-'94;  LOS  ANGELES, 
CAL.,  1894-'95;    HOLYOKE,   MASS,  1896-'99 


'  Oh,  that  mine  adversary  had  written  a  book.' 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1915 


COPYRIGHT,  1901, 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO 

PRESIDENT  G.  STANLEY  HALL, 
AMERICA'S    GREATEST    EDUCATOR, 

'       AND   TO   HUNDREDS   OF   EARNEST    COLLABORATORS, 
SOME   HUMBLE,  SOME    BETTER   KNOWN,  IN    DIVERSE   SCHOOLS, 
WHOSE    WORK    HAS    CONTRIBUTED    TO   MY   OWN   SUCCESS, 

THIS  LITTLE  WORK  IN  CONSTRUCTIVE  PEDAGOGY 

IS    APPRECIATIVELY    DEDICATED. 


360463 


EDITOR'S   PREFACE. 


IN  the  original  classification  adopted  for  this  series 
of  books,  educational  criticism  occupies  the  second 
place;  it  includes  the  works  relating  to  educational 
reform,  criticisms  on  the  present  system,  and  books  to 
a  greater  or  less  degree  revolutionary  in  their  tenden- 
cies. Some  books  of  this  class  propose  only  what  may 
be  strictly  called  reform.  The  recommendations  of 
other  books,  if  carried  out,  would  produce  little  less 
than  a  revolution  in  school  matters. 

But  all  books  written  by  earnest  thinVers  in  the  way 
of  criticism  on  existing  systems  have  their  use  in  excit- 
ing thought  in  the  minds  of  teachers  who  for  the  most 
part  are  following  routine  methods.  It  is  not  likely 
that  more  than  five  per  cent  of  new  experiments  ini- 
tiated in  education  will  succeed  in  establishing  them- 
selves as  of  value  to  educational  methods;  the  remain- 
ing ninety-five  per  cent  will  fail.  It  is  so  in  new 
business  ventures;  even  less  than  five  per  cent  of  new 
business  ventures  can  be  said  to  prove  financial  suc- 
cesses. But  the  five  per  cent  of  new  experiments 
which  succeed  may  add,  and  do  add,  enough  of  value 
to  compensate  for  the  waste  involved  in  the  other 
ninety-five  per  cent  of  experiments. 

vii 


yiii  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Even  if  we  grant  that  of  all  criticisms  and  sugges- 
tions of  reformers,  only  five  per  cent  bring  fruit  in 
the  form  of  experiments  that  prove  anything  either 
positive  or  negative,  it  still  remains  an  important  fact 
that  criticisms  and  new  experiments  keep  alive  the  work 
of  education,  just  as  in  other  matters. 

The  reader  of  the  book  of  criticism  will  generally 
come  prepared  to  refute  and  discard  one  half  of  the 
suggestions  made  by  the  reformer.  He  has  in  his  experi- 
ence— or  he  thinks  that  he  has  in  his  experience  enough 
to  demonstrate  the  futility  of  a  large  majority  of  the 
suggestions,  especially  if  the  book  of  criticism  covers  a 
wide  ground  and  attacks  the  existing  methods  of  edu- 
cation all  along  the  line. 

It  is  evident  that  every  usage  found  in  our  schools 
can  be  attacked  as  well  as  defended.  Take  the  matter 
of  school  buildings.  It  is  known  in  every  city  and  vil- 
lage that  school  buildings  have  improved  vastly  in  the 
last  thirty  years,  at  least  in  respect  to  the  amount  of 
money  invested  in  them.  The  talent  of  architects  has 
been  more  freely  employed  in  drawing  up  the  plans, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  any  one  familiar  with  the  subject 
will  retort.,  Yet  there  does  not  seem  to  be  any  well- 
digested  body  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  the  lighting  of 
the  schoolroom.  Take  Chicago,  take  Boston,  take 
any  of  our  large  cities,  look  at  the  school  buildings 
that  have  been  constructed  in  the  past  twenty  years 
and  see  how  many  study  rooms  in  them  are  lighted 
on  one  side  only;  and  the  side  that  is  lighted  often 
fronts  the  south,  getting  the  sun  between  ten  and  two 
o^clock;  or  fronts  the  west,  getting  the  sun  between  two 
and  four  o'clock;  or  the  east  in  the  morning,  requiring 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  ix 

the  window  shades  to  be  closed,  and  resulting  in  a  dim 
side  light  for  the  pupils  sitting  farthest  from  the  win- 
dow. Again,  in  the  winter  days,  in  cities  and  towns 
burning  soft  coal,  the  light  from  one  side  of  the  room 
is  insufficient.  The  result  is,  that  children  farthest 
from  the  windows  hold  the  books  nearer  the  eyes,  and 
very  soon  a  near-sighted  habit  is  contracted.  School- 
rooms should  be  lighted  from  the  back  of  the  pupil  as 
well  as  from  the  left  side. 

Again,  it  is  often  recommended  that  school  build- 
ings should  be  only  one  story  in  height.  Strong  argu- 
ments are  brought  forward  for  it;  but  the  reply  is 
equally  in  earnest,  which  says  the  air  in  the  lower 
rooms  of  a  building  is  not  so  pure  as  the  air  of  the 
second  or  third  story,  and  that  the  light  on  the 
ground  floor  is  far  inferior  to  the  light  of  the  upper 
stories. 

Even  those  who  argue  that  all  out-of-door  air  is 
purer,  and  that  all  air  confined  in  the  house  is  neces- 
sarily impure,  are  met  with  the  argument,  based  on 
observation,  that  in  malarious  countries  the  night  air 
out  of  doors  is  less  wholesome  than  the  air  confined  in 
the  house.  Experience  on  the  Romana  Campagna,  or 
on  the  lowlands  of  the  South  Atlantic  section  of  our  own 
country,  proves  this. 

Some  people  would  have  the  school  yard  open  as 
a  playground  for  the  children  after  school;  but  this 
measure  is  opposed  on  the  ground  that  the  child 
ought  to  get  the  thoughts  of  the  school  and  the  school 
building  and  the  school  yard  entirely  out  of  his  head 
for  at  least  sixteen  hours  of  the  day.  If  he  has  been 
in  a  school  called  a  play-school,  he  will  wish  to  vary 


x  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

his  plays  and  games  and  wish  different  surroundings, 
and  he  ought  to  have  them. 

Some  of  the  reformers  favour  such  a  treatment  of 
school  architecture  and  school  surroundings  as  would 
imply  that  the  school  is  the  single  and  sole  social  centre 
of  the  community.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those 
who  claim  that  the  church  and  its  auxiliary  organiza- 
tions have  a  stronger  claim  to  be  the  centre.  And 
those  who  have  the  political  state  most  at  heart  will 
expect  the  public  library,  the  town  hall,  the  courts  of 
law,  or  some  other  public  institution  to  be  the  centre. 
A  still  larger  number  will  claim  that  each  of  these  great 
cardinal  institutions — the  church,  the  state,  the  school 
— have  a  reasonable  claim  to  be  in  their  turn,  but  inter- 
mittently, the  centres  of  the  citizens'  life.  It  seems 
to  these  last-mentioned  people  that  the  citizen  is  kept 
in  his  sanity  and  sweet  reasonableness  by  this  variety 
of  institutions.  Each  one  of  the  cardinal  institutions 
has  a  great,  a  rational  purpose,  but  it  can  claim  only  a 
share  of  the  attention  of  the  life  of  the  civilized  man. 

Passing  to  another  subject,  there  is  the  question 
of  class  recitation,  and  the  grading  of  schools.  It  is 
claimed  on  the  one  hand  that  the  recitation  class-exer- 
cise should  occupy  from  twenty  to  forty  minutes,  accord- 
ing to  the  age  of  the  pupil,  and  that  the  class  is  an 
instrument  in  the  hands  of  a  good  teacher  by  which  he 
can  make  an  impression  on  each  individual  of  his  school, 
such  as  he  could  not  make  if  the  pupil  recited  by  him- 
self and  did  not  form  with  others  a  class.  It  is  said, 
for  instance,  that  one  pupil  after  another  reciting  his 
lesson  shows-  to  his  fellow-pupils  that  he  has  mastered 
some  thoughts  and  facts  which  they  had  failed  to  notice 


EDITOR'S     PREFACE.  xi 

in  their  preparation  of  the  lesson;  likewise  that  he  has 
missed  other  thoughts  and  facts  which  they  have  mas- 
tered. A  critical  attention  given  during  the  recitation, 
therefore  enables  the  pupil  to  observe  the  successes 
and  failures  of  his  fellows,  and  also  to  profit  by  the 
corrections  and  critical  observations  which  the  teacher 
offers.  Each  pupil,  therefore,  in  a  well-conducted 
recitation,  views  the  lesson  through  the  minds  of  all  his 
fellow-pupils  and  also  through  the  mind  of  the  teacher, 
and  thereby  enlarges  his  own  relatively  feeble  under- 
standing of  the  subject,  and  also  arms  him  with  critical 
attention  for  the  points  in  the  next  lesson  similar  to 
those  which  he  had  missed  in  to-day's  lesson.  Instruc- 
tion by  private  tutor  would  be,  according  to  this  point 
of  view,  far  less  efficient  than  instruction  in  a  large  class 
conducted  by  a  competent  teacher.  The  teacher's 
view  of  the  subject  is  not  quite  so  easy  for  the  pupil  to 
grasp  as  the  view  offered  by  his  fellow-pupil,  but  the 
pupil  will  arrive  at  a  much  broader  view  when  he 
attains  that  of  the  teacher.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
advocates  of  the  ungraded  school  and  of  the  private 
tutor  claim  that  better  results  as  to  individuality  are 
secured  by  their  system. 

Again,  as  to  what  is  desirable  in  the  cultivation  of 
individuality:  there  are  two  sides,  two  sets  of  reformers. 
One  reformer  insists  on  individuality,  and  means  by  it 
that  the  pupil  as  he  is,  with  his  peculiarities  and  limita- 
tions, his  likes  and  dislikes,  his  prejudices  and  his 
reasonable  conclusions,  should  be  kept  as  he  is,  or  even 
made  more  so — i.  e.,  more  peculiar.  On  the  other 
hand,  another  reformer  thinks  that  his  school  is  valu- 
able because  it  assists  the  pupil  to  repress  his  narrow- 


xii  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ness  and  weakness,  which  he  brings  from  his  heredity 
and  from  his  merely  natural  environment,  and  learn  to 
hold  in  check  such  peculiarities  as  are  considered  de- 
fects of  character,  while  he  should  learn  to  put  the  force 
of  his  will  upon  realizing  the  good  traits  that  he 
possesses.  In  other  words,  they  claim  that  the  school 
should  do  what  it  can  to  produce  good  citizenship 
according  to  a  common  type — good  behaviour,  civil 
manners,  the  virtues  of  industry  and  earnestness  and 
kindness  toward  others,  and  such  things.  But  upon  the 
statement  of  this  view,  usually  the  persons  who  argue  in 
behalf  of  individualism  hasten  to  concede  its  rationality. 
They  explain  their  position  to  mean  only  that  they 
do  not  wish  to  have  the  pupil  so  graded  and  classified 
that  he  is  not  allowed  to  develop  certain  lines  in  his 
intellect  and  will  in  which  he  is  unusually  gifted.  Then 
the  party  of  the  opposition  accepts  the  amended  state- 
ment. Individualism  is  good  when  it  makes  for  the 
good  of  the  community.  But  how  can  individualism 
be  cultivated  or  increased?  Certainly  the  individuality 
is  strongest  which  knows  best  how  to  avail  itself  of  the 
strength  of  the  community — how  to  combine  one's 
fellow-men  in  the  interest  of  a  great  cause.  Now,  the 
school  gives  precisely  the  studies  which  enable  the  indi- 
vidual to  combine  with  his  fellow-men.  Therefore,  the 
school  by  so  much  enhances  the  individuality  of  its 
pupil. 

Again,  one  educational  reformer  wishes  to  modify 
the  course  of  study  and  devote  much  more  attention  to 
botany  or  to  zoology  under  the  name  of  nature  study;  he 
wishes  to  have  less  time  devoted  to  reading  and  writing 
and  arithmetic.  He  has  only  to  listen  to  hear  a  choruu 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  xiii 

of  opposition  to  this.  An  opposite  reformer  tells  him 
that  it  is  better  to  study  the  feelings,  thoughts,  and 
deeds  of  the  human  race,  as  depicted  in  the  lessons  of 
the  school  readers,  and  to  give  a  comparatively  small 
portion  of  the  school  programme  to  botany  or  to  zo- 
ology. He  argues  in  behalf  of  this  on  the  ground  that 
a  knowledge  of  human  nature  is  most  important  to  the 
future  citizen. 

Another  reformer  argues  that  writing  and  drawing 
should  be  postponed  until  somewhere  between  the 
tenth  and  fifteenth  year  of  life.  He  alleges  that  the 
brain  tracts  which  have  to  do  with  the  finger,  hand, 
arm,  eye,  and  tongue  movements,  and  movements  of 
the  face,  develop  later.  An  opponent  is  ready  with 
this  reply:  that  while  it  is  true  that  the  areas  that 
deal  with  accessory  movements  come  later  than  those 
of  the  fundamental  movements,  yet  that  the  former 
areas  develop  prenatally  in  the  child  and  become  active, 
some  in  a  few  weeks,  others  in  a  few  months  after  birth, 
and  are  pretty  fully  developed  by  the  third  year  of  the 
child's  life,  and  that  he  is  positively  hungry  for  exer- 
cises of  the  various  accessory  muscles  and  their  corre- 
sponding brain  tracts  for  at  least  two  years  before  he 
enters  the  kindergarten. 

Another  reformer  claims  that  it  is  the  chief  business 
of  the  school  to  develop  these  small  accessory  brain 
tracts;  still  another  reformer  holds  that  the  school 
should  limit  itself  to  the  fundamental  muscles,  because 
the  brain  tracts  used  for  the  fundamental  movements 
occupy  a  so  much  larger  portion  of  the  brain.  But  an 
opponent  of  the  latter  reformer  immediately  attacks 
this  alleged  ground  on  a  question  of  fact,  and  says  that 


xiv  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  brain  of  man  has  a  far  greater  proportion  of  its 
surface  used  for  accessory  muscles,  and  that  the  full 
arm  movements,  for  instance,  and  the  movements  of  the 
lower  limbs,  do  not  require  so  much  brain  as  the  move- 
ments of  the  muscles  of  the  eyes  and  the  adjoining 
muscles  of  the  face.  And  still  another  opponent  ob- 
jects altogether  to  the  settling  of  the  question  of  time 
and  place  of  a  branch  of  study  on  the  ground  that  the 
brain  tract  is  large  or  small.  It  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  almost  all  education  deals  with  inhibiting 
animal  impulse  or  transmuting  it  by  ethical  impulse; 
and  it  hints,  too,  that  the  ablest  investigators  of  the 
human  brain  think  that  all  of  the  gray  matter  is  devoted 
to  inhibition,  or,  in  other  words,  to  action  which  forms 
new  lines  of  activity  out  of  the  raw  stuff  of  mere  animal 
impulse  and  makes  them  to  be  civilized  habits.  It  is 
clear  on  reflection  that  the  child  begins  almost  at  birth 
to  inhibit  certain  spontaneous  actions,  and  that  he 
gradually  builds  up  an  inhibited  life  in  securing  for 
himself  that  great  network  of  customs  and  usages  which 
etiquette,  the  vocation  in  life,  the  laws  of  the  state,  and 
the  ordinances  of  religion  demand.  No  wonder  that 
the  human  brain  has  such  a  large  development  of  cortex 
or  gray  matter  if  it  is  used  for  this  purpose. 

Another  reformer  wishes  to  have  department  in- 
struction in  the  primary  grades,  say,  with  children  of 
the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  year,  and  later.  His  heated 
opponent  says  that  this  would  convert  the  ordinary 
elementary  school  into  an  orphan  asylum;  and  he  de- 
scribes the  dreariness  of  the  upper  primary  school  of 
forty  years  ago,  when  a  semi-Lancasterial  plan  prevailed 
and  the  children  were  all  together  in  a  large  assembly 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE.  XV 

room  and  sent  to  special  teachers  in  small  recitation 
rooms.  In  some  cases  the  children  recited  wholly  to 
these  assistant  teachers,  but  they  did  not  conduct  their 
study  under  them,  and  there  was  a  lack  of  that  home 
feeling  which  should  be  preserved  to  some  extent  for 
several  years,  say  until  the  twelfth  year,  in  the  elemen- 
tary school. 

Another  objector  urges  the  point  that  a  struggle  will 
result  between  the  special  teachers,  each  one  wishing 
to  absorb  most  of  the  time  and  intellect  of  the  pupils 
for  his  or  her  specialty.  Another  person  calls  to  mind 
the  opening  of  the  Quincy  School  in  Boston  in  1847, 
and  the  great  humanizing  that  has  resulted  in  methods 
of  discipline  in  school  by  the  adoption  of  the  plan  of 
having  each  room  with  its  pupils  under  charge  of  a 
teacher  who  supervises  both  their  work  of  preparation 
of  the  lessons,  and  also  their  work  in  recitation.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  new  advocate  of  the  department  sys- 
tem of  teaching  urges  that  it  furnishes  teachers  who  are 
expert  each  in  his  own  branch. 

This  alternate  contention  may  follow  throughout 
the  entire  lines  of  special  methods  and  measures  of 
school  instruction,  and  such  contention  must  be  ad- 
mitted to  be  on  the  whole  enlightening  to  the  teacher 
who  follows  use  and  wont.  He  begins  to  arouse  his 
critical  faculties  into  activity  and  to  think  for  himself, 
and  to  observe  many  defects  of  his  own  teaching  and  of 
the  teaching  of  others  that  had  entirely  escaped  his 
attention. 

It  is  well  to  enter  upon  the  reading  of  books  of  edu- 
cational reform.  Nothing  is  more  stimulating  to  the 
teacher;  but  he  should  supplement  this  reading  by  a 


xvi  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

reading  of  the  history  of  education,  for  it  is  only  in 
the  history  of  education  that  he  sees  the  outcome  of 
reforms  and  can  understand  their  strong  and  weak 
points.  Nearly  all  present  practices  that  have  become 
established  have  a  history  of  trials  and  experiments,  and 
one  who  studies  their  growth  in  the  past  is  taking  the 
best  way  to  discover  what  reforms  should  be  taken  up 
as  the  next  best  step  in  the  present. 

W.  T.  HARRIS. 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  August,  1901. 


mTKODUCTIOK 


I  HAVE  carefully  read  the  manuscript  of  this  book 
with  great  and  growing  interest  to  the  close.  While 
some  of  the  practical  points  it  treats  are  beyond  my 
ken,  and  while  there  are  a  few  minor  matters  in  which 
I  differ  from  the  author,  it  is,  on  the  whole,  a  book  I 
wish  I  could  have  written  myself;  and  I  can  think  of 
no  single  educational  volume  in  the  whole  wide  range 
of  literature  in  this  field  that  I  believe  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  do  so  much  good  at  the  present  time  and  which 
I  could  so  heartily  advise  every  teacher  in  the  land, 
of  whatever  grade,  to  read  and  ponder. 

The  author,  who  has  had  an  unusually  wide,  varied, 
and  successful  experience,  has  deliberately  laid  aside 
the  burden  of  administration,  refused  I  know  not  how 
many  attractive  openings,  and  taken  a  year  off  to  state, 
with  more  deliberation  and  completeness  than  before, 
the  educational  faith  that  is  in  him,  and  has  done  so 
in  a  way  that  is  sure  to  place  him  before  the  public  as 
the  leader  of  individualism  in  the  sub-collegiate  grades 
— a  movement  comparable  only  with  the  work  of  Presi- 
dent Eliot  in  the  collegiate  stages  of  education.  The 
work  of  each  of  these  pioneers  supplements  and  would 
2  xvii 


xviii  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

be  incomplete  without  that  of  the  other,  for  each  has 
been  tunnelling  the  mountain  from  opposite  sides,  one 
working  down  and  the  other  up  the  grades.  Here  they 
meet,  and  for  the  first  time  the  full  scope  of  the  move- 
ment is  plain,  and  the  through  line  that  is  to  short-cir- 
cuit and  economize  so  many  of  the  old  ways  is  open. 

The  change  from  the  scholiocentric  to  the  paidocen- 
tric  standpoint  is  comparable  not  so  much  to  that  from 
the  geocentric  to  the  heliocentric  view  as  to  the  refor- 
mation which  made  it  plain  that  church,  Bible,  Sab- 
bath, etc.,  were  made  for  man  and  not  man  for  them. 
We  who  are  in  the  midst  of  it  can  hardly  realize  the 
magnitude  of  the  changes  involved,  which  must  be  seen 
in  historic  perspective  to  reveal  their  epoch-making  sig- 
nificance. Superintendent  Search  understands  that 
true  ideals  are  the  most  practical  working  methods,  and 
has  found  many,  if  not  most,  of  these  embodied,  feature 
by  feature,  in  the  schools  of  many  cities  and  countries. 
Part  of  his  work  consists  in  gathering  these  items  from 
where  they  lay  scattered  and  ineffective,  and  combining 
them  into  a  unitary  working  plan  which  might  be  real- 
ized wherever  conditions  favoured.  Even  if  in  its  en- 
tirety it  is  realized  nowhere,  it  should  be  a  stimulus  and 
inspiration  everywhere. 

As  not  the  least  of  its  merits  I  count  its  fitness  to 
polarize  educational  forces  into  conservative  and  pro- 
gressive, the  healthiest  and  most  vitalizing  of  all  party 
divisions.  Younger  and  abler  men  and  women,  who 
feel  that  the  best  is  yet  to  come  in  education,  because 
of  their  own  power  of  faith  and  enthusiasm,  are  sure 
to  applaud  and  adopt;  while  those  who  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned that  nothing  the  past  has  given  be  lost,  will  look 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

with  some  concern  upon  a  prophet  so  clear-sighted  and 
confident  of  a  new  pedagogic  dispensation.  Yet  there 
is  not  a  word  of  animosity,  and  criticism  was  never 
more  amiable  and  even  where  most  radical  is  most 
kindly  and  indeed  almost  regretful. 

Of  the  writer's  absolute  sincerity  and  depth  of  con- 
victions, of  his  honesty  and  readiness  for  utter  self- 
effacement,  if  personal  interest  ever  seems  to  militate 
against  the  advancement  of  his  ideals,  his  career  and 
his  entire  personality  leave  no  shadow  of  doubt.  His 
method  is  conservative,  his  spirit  a  happy  combination 
of  the  suaviter  in  modo  with  the  fort it er  in  re,  and  he 
is  eminently  a  practical  idealist — a  rare  combination  of 
qualities  seldom  united.  No  one  would  be  less  disposed 
to  attempt  such  reconstruction  by  revolutionary  meth- 
ods, and  none  more  contented  with  very  gradual  ap- 
proximation to  his  ideals. 

As  we  know  more  of  child  nature  and  the  nascent 
periods  of  growth  we  shall  be  able  to  make  adjustments 
more  and  more  accurate  and  economic ;  but  the  general 
principles  here  laid  down  are  basal  for  the  new  educa- 
tion, and  their  far-off  fruitage  will  be  seen  in  more 
completely  developed  and  more  diversified  personali- 
ties, in  broader  conceptions  of  what  education  means, 
and  in  a  correlation  of  educational  forces  of  the  home, 
church,  and  state,  and  in  higher  and  sounder  ideas  of 
parenthood  itself.  G  gTANLEY  HALL. 

CLARK  UNIVERSITY,  June,  1901. 


AUTHOK'S  PKEFACE. 


"  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star."    (Emerson.) 

I  BELIEVE  in  ideals,  and  in  ideals  which  can  not  be 
easily  reached;  for  the  man  who  raises  his  ideals  high- 
est is  the  one  who  lifts  his  work  most.  Therefore,  I 
am  not  concerned  that  the  things  presented  in  this  little 
constructive  endeavour  will  not  find  bodily  incorpora- 
tion in  schools;  for  it  is  cross-fertilization  and  not 
grafting  which  has  given  us  our  richest  varieties  of 
fruits  and  flowers.  This  work  is  an  attempt  at  spirit, 
not  letter;  at  principle,  not  method. 

I  do  not  come  to  this  presentation  with  merely  a 
theoretical  knowledge  of  schools,  but  from  the  rich, 
active,  versatile  experience  of  one  who  has  made  a 
faithful  attempt  to  solve  for  his  own  schools  some  of 
the  great,  burning  questions  of  child  life.  A  service 
as  teacher  for  three  years  in  the  ungraded  schools,  as 
tutor  in  college,  as  teacher  in  the  lower-grade  schools 
and  in  the  commercial  school,  as  principal  of  a  classical 
academy  and  normal  school,  as  specialist  in  and  prin- 
cipal of  a  high  school,  as  supervisor  of  a  large  system 
of  evening  schools,  as  superintendent  in  the  village, 
the  town,  the  smaller  city,  and  the  larger  city  schools, 

xxi 


xxii  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

in  every  case  with  rare  opportunity  for  experimental 
endeavour,  supplemented  with  wide  observation  in  every 
part  of  the  country,  entitles  me  to  speak  with  some 
confidence,  and  I  trust  with  acceptance,  concerning  re- 
forms most  needed  in  the  schools  of  the  day. 

The  man  who  once  presents  his  ideals  to  the  world 
makes  his  own  life  work  difficult;  for  he  is  ever  after- 
ward, more  than  other  men,  measured  by  these  same 
standards,  the  realization  of  which  conditions  limit. 
Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  best  for  him  to  offer 
freely  the  accumulations  of  hard-earned  experience  and 
long  years  of  toil  in  order  that  others  may  carry  for- 
ward the  work  which  an  impatient  world  would  fain 
deny  him.  It  is  also  true  that  an  expressed  ideal  soon 
loses  its  original  identity,  working  its  way  often  uncon- 
sciously into  the  products  of  others,  who  perhaps  were 
hostile  to  its  original  utterance.  It  is  in  this  way  the 
world  moves  forward.  Evolution  appropriates  as  its 
own  everything  which  can  enrich ;  but  no  one  factor  can 
be  better  expended  than  to  be  thus  absorbed.  It  is  per- 
haps well  that  it  is  so. 

That  these  ideals  may  not  seem  beyond  practical 
application,  I  have  attempted  to  illustrate  each  point 
as  presented  by  citations  from  the  actual  experiences 
of  schools.  A  long,  active,  personal  experience  in  ex- 
ceedingly rich  fields,  a  wide  observation  of  the  best 
schools  in  every  part  of  the  land,  and  an  accumulation 
of  data  perhaps  in  kind  not  the  possession  of  any  other 
person,  enable  me  to  do  this  a  hundred  times  beyond 
the  limits  of  these  pages.  There  is  scarcely  a  single 
feature  of  all  these  ideals  presented,  no  matter  how 
inaccessible  they  may  seem,  which  is  not  supported  by 


AUTHOR'S  PREFACE.  xxiii 

something  tested  and  proven,  to  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree, in  the  experience  of  schools.  If  these  fragments 
of  success  can  be  found,  no  matter  how  scattered, 
then  an  ideal  school  is  the  direct  product  of  their  co- 
ordination in  a  single  system.  If  only  one  teacher 
can  reach  the  results  herein  described,  then  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  whole  plan  are  completely  demon- 
strated. 

The  ideal  school  will  never  be  the  product  of  any 
one  person;  nor  is  this  little  work  in  exposition.  The 
treasured  contributions  of  a  still  living  past  and  the 
willing  co-operation  of  many  collaborators  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  have  been  freely  utilized.  To  these 
earnest  associates,  so  closely  related  to  my  own  work, 
but  whose  names  are  too  many  for  mention,  I  desire 
to  express  my  personal  appreciation  and  indebtedness. 
If  any  one  thing  has  ever  made  my  own  work  success- 
ful, it  has  been  the  noble  co-operation  of  a  great  coterie 
of  workers  whose  zeal  for  better  things  grows  with  the 
passing  years. 

My  thanks  are  especially  due  to  President  G.  Stanley 
Hall  for  his  great  interest  in  urging  the  production  of 
this  work,  and  to  Dr.  A.  F.  Chamberlain  and  Librarian 
L.  N.  Wilson  for  helpful  kindness  in  proof-readings 
during  the  author's  absence  in  Europe. 

The  questions  presented  in  the  discussions  of  this 
work  are  largely  those  which  have  come  to  my  table 
in  earnest  inquiries  from  all  over  the  country.  They 
type  very  well  practical  difficulties  concerning  which, 
in  an  enormous  correspondence,  and  by  lecture  audi- 
ences, I  have  been  repeatedly  asked  to  give  information; 
and  they  are  offered  largely  in  the  personal  form  in 


xxiv  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

which  they  have  appeared.     Perhaps  their  discussion 
here  may  be  helpful. 

If  this  discussion  seems  to  be  over-critical,  I  trust 
it  will  be  remembered  the  criticism  largely  applies  to 
my  own  work  as  well  as  that  of  others.  I  love  the 
public  schools,  in  the  service  of  which  my  life  has  been 
spent;  but  my  experience  with  the  one  hundred  thou- 
sand boys  and  girls  who  have  been  under  my  charge, 
supplemented  by  a  wide  observation  of  schools  in  almost 
every  state  of  the  Union,  tells  me  there  are  radical 
defects  in  our  school  practices  which  must  be  remedied. 
The  best  things  in  education  are  not  yet.  It  is  in  this 
spirit,  which  comprehends  my  own  responsibility  as  well 
as  that  of  others,  that  this  little  attempt  in  construc- 
tion is  offered.  May  I  not  hope  to  be  understood? 

PRESTON  W.  SEARCH. 
CLARK  UNIVERSITY,  WORCESTER,  MASS. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

EDITOR'S  PREFACE .  vii 

INTRODUCTION  BY  PRESIDENT  G.  STANLEY  HALJ      .  xvii 

AUTHOR'S  PREFACE xxi 

I. — THE  PROPOSITION  STATED — INTRODUCTORY  QUERIES  1 

II. — THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL 11 

III. — THE    LOSSES    OF   THE    SCHOOL    (continued)  —  THE 

HEALTH  OF  SCHOOL  CHILDREN      ....  38 

IV. — FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL    .       .  58  — 

V.— THE  SCHOOL  PLANT 74 

VI.— THE  SCOPE  OF  THE  SCHOOL 104 

VII.— THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY Ill 

VIII. — INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS 158 

IX. — ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS 177 

X. — APPLICABILITY  TO  DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUC- 
TION          240 

XI. — THE   CHILD'S   OPPORTUNITY  TRACED  THROUGH  THE 

SCHOOL 273 

XII.— THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER      .       .       .       .289 

XIII.— THE  RE-ENFORCEMENT  OF  EVOLUTION       .        .        .307 

XIV.— MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION  .        .  316 

XV. — SOMETHING  FOR  THE  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT  .  332 

XVI. — THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  SCHOOL        .        .        .  344.  . 

XVII. — IN  CONCLUSION   .                             ....  353 


xxv 


AN  IDEAL   SCHOOL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    PROPOSITION    STATED — INTRODUCTORY    QUERIES; 

AT  the  very  beginning  of  this  discussion  I  wish  to 
advance  a  fundamental  proposition:  we  must  recon- 
struct our  educational  system.  Not  that  it  has  not  ac- 
complished much  good  in  the  past,  but  because  the  time 
has  come  when  we  should  rise  to  something  better.  We 
have  been  travelling  at  a  rapid  rate  in  these  latter  days 
in  science,  invention,  economics,  and  art.  The  school- 
man must  keep  pace  with  the  world's  demands.  His 
methods  have  been  too  passive,  too  profligate,  and  too 
inert.  The  school  must  be  built  fundamentally  for  the 
pupil.  It  must  be  more  democratic  and  afford  coequal 
opportunity  to  all  children.  It  must  accord  with  Na- 
ture. It  must  conduct  its  work  by  the  active  method. 
It  must  recognise  heredity,  environment,  innate  faculty 
and  trend,  and  give  opportunity  for  spontaneity,  crea- 
tion, choice,  and  self-government.  It  must  depart  from 
uniform  requirement  and  recognise  the  supreme  impor- 
tance of  an  education  of  differences.  There  must  be  the 
removal  of  all  false  incentive  and  the  substitution  of 
the  performance  of  work  from  pure  love  for  work  and 
because  it  is  right.  The  school  must  be  the  promoter 

1 


2  AF  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

cf  heai -;h — physical,  intellectual,  and  moral.  Given  its 
constituency,  it  must  be  responsible  for  results.  The 
product  of  the  school  must  be  the  free,  enkindled  soul, 
alive  to  observation,  trained  to  habits  of  industry, 
original  inquiry,  and  artistic  enjoyment — a  creator  in 
the  world  of  action — a  self-governing,  independent- 
thinking,  and  wealth-contributing  citizen. 

Has  the  school  been  built  fundamentally  for  the 
individual  pupil?  It  must  be  admitted  that  it  has  not 
been.  The  central  principle  in  gradation  has  been  that 
the  child  must  fit  the  school  and  not  the  school  fit  the 
child.  The  work  has  been  planned  for  the  class,  con- 
ducted for  the  class,  with  promotions  made  at  class  in- 
tervals. The  thought  that  the  child  is  a  personal  unit, 
potential  in  his  individuality  and  fitness  for  a  distinc- 
tive mission  in  life,  has  to  no  considerable  extent  ever 
entered  into  the  constructive  policy  and  plans  of  schools. 
The  school  can  not  rise  to  its  best  until  it  fits  the 
individual  needs  of  each  and  every  pupil,  and  these 
needs  are  not  merely  the  superficial  ones  of  the  pres- 
ent, but  they  take  hold  of  a  futurity  wherein  man  is 
never  so  strong  as  when,  in  science,  invention,  litera- 
ture, or  art,  he  has  created  something  of  value  because 
of  his  strength  as  an  individual. 

Has  the  school  been  sufficiently  democratic?  It  has 
not  been.  Built  for  an  impossible  factor  wherein  an 
imaginary  average  pupil  was  the  fallacious  unit,  it  has 
failed  to  give  just  opportunity  to  either  the  "born 
long  "  or  the  "  born  short."  The  bright,  capable  pupil 
has  been  retarded  in  his  progress,  has  spent  time  in  life- 
less reviews  and  valueless  repetition  of  lessons,  and  has 
had  his  ambition  stunted;  while  the  slow-going  pupil, 


THE  PROPOSITION  STATED.  3 

who  often  fruits  best  in  later  life,  has  been  hurried 
forward  at  an  unnatural  pace,  plunged  prematurely 
into  difficulties  he  does  not  understand,  to  flounder,  to 
repeat  grades,  and  to  be  discouraged,  when  education 
should  have  been  to  him  just  opportunity  proportionate 
to  his  working  ability.  The  school  holds  its  constitu- 
ency by  compulsory  attendance  and  not  primarily  by 
merit;  but  it  fails  to  give  adequate  advancement,  as  is 
shown  by  the  preponderance  of  numbers  *  in  the  lower 
grades  over  those  in  the  higher  grades.  Not,  perhaps, 
in  intention,  but  in  practice,  it  conserves  the  interests 
of  the  aristocracy  of  the  few  who  can  rather  than  the 
democracy  of  the  many  who  may.  It  is  not  built  for 
the  masses,  to  whom  it  should  grant  wide,  differen- 
tiated, and  fruitful  opportunity.  To  be  the  school  of  a 
democratic  people,  it  must  plan  for  the  strong  and  the 
weak,  the  rapid  and  the  slow,  the  wealthy  and  the  poor, 
the  one  whose  whole  energies  may  be  given  to  the  school 
and  the  one  who  must  carry  responsibilities  at  home. 
To  be  anything  else,  to  crowd  out  the  unfortunate 
in  life  and  those  of  lesser  degree  in  order  that  the 
privileged  few  may  monopolize  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion, is  a  direct  perversion  of  the  people's  money.  The 
school  must  open  its  doors  to  all  classes  and  at  all  hours, 
and  open  them  wide. 

Has  the  school  placed  its  practices  in  accord  with 
Nature?  Not  to  any  considerable  extent.  "  The  his- 
tory of  human  thought,"  says  Compayre,  "  shows  that 
there  has  ever  been  a  tendency  to  separate  form  from 
content,  or  letter  from  spirit,  and  as  constant  a  pre- 

*  Table  of  Ages,  Chapter  II. 


4  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

dilection  for  form  or  letter,  as  distinguished  from  con- 
tent or  spirit."  The  child  has  gained  his  glimpses  of 
Nature  through  the  eyes  of  others.  He  sees  "  as 
through  a  glass  darkly/'  and  not  "face  to  face."  "Study 
Nature  in  the  house,  and  when  you  go  out  you  canna 
find  her."  The  primary  school  begins  its  work  with  dry, 
meaningless  abstractions.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that 
the  child  can  do  little  until  he  can  read — until  he  is 
equipped  with  the  tools  for  second-hand  acquisition. 
His  after-education  contains  much  of  this  same  proce- 
dure— form  before  content,  letter  before  spirit,  nomen- 
clature before  idea,  some  one  else's  interpretation  in- 
stead of  personal  knowledge,  and  attempt  at  expression 
of  that  which  is  not  yet  conceived.  "  Things!  things!  " 
exclaims  Rousseau,  "  I  shall  never  tire  of  saying  that 
we  ascribe  too  much  importance  to  words.  With  our 
babbling  education  we  make  only  babblers." 

Again,  are  the  methods  of  the  school  natural?  Is 
there  recognition  of  the  great  fundamental  nascent 
periods  in  child  growth?  Is  there  training  to  keen, 
alert  observation,  to  logical  thinking  and  to  correct  ex- 
pression? Does  the  school  connect  the  innate  germ  of 
love  for  the  beautiful  and  of  wonder  at  the  mysterious 
with  the  inspired  and  continuous  student  of  the  future? 
Where  are  the  method  of  Socrates,  the  philosophy  of 
Plato  and  Aristotle,  and  the  practices  of  Pestalozzi? 

Are  the  methods  of  the  school  sufficiently  based  on 
activity?  They  are  not.  There  is  too  much  repetition, 
too  much  of  waiting  for  others  to  catch  up,  too  much 
time  lost  while  others  are  reciting.  The  ordinary  form 
of  recitation  is  too  expensive.  There  is  too  much  loss 
of  time,  dissipation  of  energy,  and  trying  on  of  misfit 


THE  PROPOSITION  STATED.  5 

clothes.  It  is  this  more  than  any  one  thing  which  has 
driven  the  pupil  to  the  outside  preparation  of  lessons. 
Within  school  the  programme  is  all  recitation;  there  is 
little  time  for  the  pupils  to  study.  The  teacher  is  too 
much  a  hearer  of  lessons.  High  art  in  teaching  requires 
that  the  instructor  should  be  submerged  and  the  school 
be  a  place  where,  under  unconscious  direction  and  in- 
spiration, the  pupil  shall  find  results  awaiting  his 
own  pleasurable  investigations  and  personal  creation. 
There  may  be  virtue  of  a  kind  in  the  class  room  where 
the  teacher  carefully  plans  all  the  steps  of  procedure 
and  insists  on  the  performance  of  work  according  to  her 
ideals;  but,  in  educative  worth,  it  can  not  compare  with 
that  where  the  pupil  feels  the  glow  w7hich  comes  from 
personal  discovery  and  accomplishment.  It  is  a  little 
thing  to  be  an  imitator;  a  great  thing  to  be  a  creator. 
The  father  who  insists  on  his  son  holding  the  board 
while  he  drives  the  nail  may  drive  the  nail  well,  but 
he  who  holds  the  board  while  the  son  drives  the  nail 
does  better.  The  nail  may  not  be  so  well  driven,  but 
he  educates  the  son.  Even  so  in  the  school  room  the 
child  must  be  permitted  to  do  his  own  work.  Dead 
time  must  give  place  to  active  endeavour.  The  child 
must  be  a  discoverer,  an  originator,  a  creator.  He  must 
be  permitted  to  drive  the  nail. 

Heredity,  what  place  has  it  in  the  construction  of 
school  policies?  Is  there  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
the  child  is  more  than  post-natal,  and  that  which  Nature 
has  been  centuries  in  forming  can  not  be  changed  in  a 
day?  The  elements  which  constitute  the  personal  equa- 
tion are  not  superficial,  but  "  extend  from  'way  back/' 
and  therefore  must  fundamentally  determine  the  base 


6  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  approach  in  the  education  of  the  child.  Not  only  in 
his  inherited  tendencies  to  weaknesses  does  the  child 
appeal  to  us  for  sympathetic  training,  but  his  virtues 
and  strengths  are  more  than  appear  on  the  surface. 
The  child  is  nearer  God  than  is  the  man.  Being  has 
its  past  as  well  as  its  future.  Evolution  does  not  lift 
all  its  products  equally.  Hence,  he  who  builds  a  graded 
course  of  instruction,  thinking  of  origin  as  being  only 
five  or  ten  years  back,  does  violence  to  an  heredity 
which  knows  no  uniformity  and  offers  mankind  the 
most  in  that  the  germs  of  immortality  are  not  all 
alike. 

Then,  too,  environment  presents  its  conditioning 
factors.  Side  by  side  in  the  same  school  room  sit  the 
wealthy  and  the  poor,  the  child  well  fed  and  the  one 
who  seldom  knows  an  adequate  meal,  the  well-clothed 
and  the  one  exposed  to  the  storm,  the  child  who  has 
had  normal  hours  of  sleep  and  the  one  who  has  been 
hurried  from  his  bed  to  sell  the  morning  papers  or  to 
do  other  work,  hours  before  school,  the  child  of  luxury 
and  the  one  of  heavy  responsibilities  at  home,  the  one 
who  is  surrounded  with  culture  and  the  one  who  has 
little  opportunity  even  for  reading  at  home,  the  child 
of  growing  strength  and  the  one  of  increasing  weakness, 
the  sick  and  the  well.  Can  any  system  of  uniform  re- 
quirement stand  before  the  bar  of  justice  and  equity 
when  charged  with  a  responsibility  of  this  kind?  Who 
made  the  schoolman  so  omniscient  and  omnipotent 
that  he  can  justly  take  into  consideration  all  these  con- 
ditioning elements  of  heredity  and  environment  when 
he  sits  down  to  measure  mind  by  a  scale  of  per  cents 
or  other  mechanical  nomenclature,  which  too  often 


THE  PROPOSITION  STATED.  7 

measures  himself  and  not  the  pupil  whose  infinitude  he 
has  failed  to  comprehend? 

The  tests  of  an  educational  system  are  not  those 
which  obtain  in  the  class  examination,  but  in  the  op- 
portunity afforded  for  the  spontaneous  development  of 
the  ego  which  can  not  be  measured.  Undoubtedly  there 
are  certain  favouring  elements  of  health  and  balance 
which  are  the  same  for  all  pupils;  but  that  all  should 
have  the  same  loves,  the  same  bent,  and  the  same 
heights  to  climb,  is  an  educational  absurdity.  Great 
things  in  literature,  in  scientific  discovery,  and  in  in- 
vention, do  not  come  where  men  move  in  solid  phalanx, 
but  are  found  along  the  heights  where  the  individuals 
tread.  Indeed,  as  a  rule,  the  inventors  have  not  come 
up  through  the  schools.  There  is  that  born  in  the  child 
which  determines  his  predilection,  and  the  great 
teacher  is  he  who  early  discovers  the  innate  germ  and 
gives  it  opportunity  for  expression.  Soul  is  not  the 
product  of  the  school. 

We  need,  then,  a  radical  departure  from  the  uni- 
formitization  practised  so  much  in  schools.  We  need 
an  education  that  will  develop  differences  and  conserve 
individuality.  This  will  not  render  school  work  easy;  it 
makes  it  hard  and  difficult,  but  it  will  certainly  be  more 
scientific. 

It  is  often  argued  that  there  is  so  much  of  total 
depravity  by  inheritance  that  the  child  needs  require- 
ment and  foreign  incentive.  Probably  that  which  the 
soul  inherits  is  not  depravity,  but  liability  to  weakness. 
The  soul  itself  bears  the  impress  of  divinity,  and  is  born 
for  great  things.  Zuchmann  says,  "  If  the  babe  could 
hear  its  mother  sing  in  perfect  voice,  every  child  would 


8  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

be  a  singer."  Even  so  there  is  that  in  every  child 
which  will  burst  forth  into  life  and  beauty  under  the 
right  favouring  nurture;  sometimes  it  will,  any  way. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  think  the  child  has  no  innate  love  for 
beauty,  or  concord  or  symmetry.  The  germs  may  be  in 
embryo,  or  they  may  sleep,  but  they  will  respond  to 
sunshine  and  culture.  So,  in  the  school,  the  soul  will 
awaken  to  the  beauty  in  Nature,  the  noble  in  literature, 
the  heroic  in  history,  the  wonderful  in  science,  and 
the  delightful  in  art,  and  by  related  interests  to  other 
things  of  secondary  importance.  The  discovery  of  ap- 
proach may  sometimes  be  difficult,  but  the  teacher  can 
afford  to  run  the  whole  gamut  of  possibilities  in  order 
to  find  the  right  key  to  interest;  and  through  that  door 
should  be  the  entrance  to  other  treasure-houses  be- 
yond. To  do  this  to  any  considerable  extent,  under 
the  stress  and  strain  of  uniformity,  is  impossible;  but 
there  will  never  be  a  thorough  test  of  the  value  of  in- 
terest as  an  educating  medium  until  it  is  done.  The 
preciousness  of  a  single  soul,  awakened  from  dormancy 
unto  life,  is  worth  more  than  the  mechanical  excellence 
of  a  world  of  schools. 

Have  the  schools  been  conservative  of  the  health  of 
school  children?  It  must  be  admitted  that  they  have 
not  been.  It  seemed  to  me  the  finest-looking  lot  of 
school  children  I  ever  saw  was  in  the  city  of  Salt  Lake. 
This  was  immediately  after  the  inauguration  of  the 
public  system  in  that  city.  Statistics  are  abundant  to 
show  the  immense  amount  of  physical  impairment,  and 
sometimes  wreckage,  attendant  upon  the  pursuit  of  an 
education.  If  education  is  to  mean  anything,  it  must 
mean  heajth;  and  unless  the  public  schools  are  pro- 


THE  PROPOSITION  STATED.  9 

moters  of  health,  they  are  fundamentally  wrong.  Says 
President  G.  Stanley  Hall:  "Now,  if  this  tremendous 
school  engine,  in  which  everybody  believes  with  a 
catholic  consensus  of  belief  perhaps  never  before  at- 
tained, is  in  the  least  degree  tending  to  deteriorate 
mankind  physically,  it  is  bad.  Knowledge  bought  at 
the  expense  of  health,  which  is  wholeness  or  holiness 
itself  in  its  highest  aspect,  is  not  worth  what  it  costs. 
Health  conditions  all  the  highest  joys  of  life,  means 
full  maturity,  national  prosperity.  May  we  not  rever- 
ently ask,  What  shall  it  profit  a  child  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world  of  knowledge  and  lose  his  health,  or  what 
shall  he  give  in  exchange  for  his  health  ?  " 

Shall  the  school  be  held  responsible  for  results? 
Most  certainly.  If  it  is  found  that  myopia,  hollow 
chests,  spinal  curvature,  heart  defects,  and  nervous  and 
digestive  diseases  increase  in  schools,  as  expert  exami- 
nations find  to  be  the  case,  who  is  at  fault?  If  a  child 
continues  a  dullard,  a  drone,  or  a  dunce,  what  shall  be 
said  of  the  person  who  has  been  employed  to  set  the 
machinery  of  his  life  in  operation?  More  than  that, 
is  there  not  responsibility  for  the  moral  elevation  of 
those  with  wliom  the  teacher  lives  day  after  day?  Most 
certainly  there  is.  Fenelon  had  a  similar  task  in  his 
education  of  the  irascible  Duke  of  Burgundy.  Are  the 
children  in  the  schools  inspired  with  love  for  study? 
Do  they  love  attendance  upon  a  good  lecture?  Are  they 
continuous  students  after  they  leave  school?  Are  they 
trustworthy  in  their  self-government?  The  school  can 
not  evade  responsibility  any  more  than  can  the  physi- 
cian who  assumes  charge  of  the  sick  in  the  early  stage 
of  disease.  It  must  be  the  mission  of  the  school  to  pro- 


10  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

mote  health,  to  inspire  to  action,  to  inculcate  a  love  for 
noble  things,  and  to  lift  to  the  level  of  higher  living. 
The  card  report  sent  from  the  school  to  the  home  is 
often  a  measure  more  of  the  teacher  than  of  the  child. 
That  better  results  may  obtain,  there  must  be  a 
radical  reconstruction  of  schools.  Happily,  the  dawn  of 
the  new  era  does  not  seem  very  far  off.  The  enormous 
interest  the  better  teachers  of  America  are  taking  in 
child  study,  the  many  departures  here  and  there  from 
traditional  and  uniform  method,  an  awakening  con- 
science within  and  without  the  schools,  the  leavening  in- 
fluence of  earnest  attempts  at  something  higher — these 
are  all  prophetic  of  the  early  coming  of  better  things. 
The  school  of  the  twentieth  century  will  be  based  on  a 
better  knowledge  of  children,  and  will  mark  a  new  era 
in  education. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

THE   LOSSES    OF   THE    SCHOOL. 

IT  will  probably  be  well  to  preface  our  constructive 
presentation  by  a  closer  examination  into  the  condition 
of  the  present  school,  so  that  we  may  avoid  many  of  its 
evils  in  our  ideal  school.  Somehow  there  is  such  a  uni- 
versal tendency  to  believe  in  that  which  we  now  have, 
attacks  on  its  alleged  merits  are  so  zealously  repelled 
by  the  executors  of  past  educational  estates,  the  school 
of  mechanical  excellence  looks  so  well  on  its  sur- 
face and  runs  with  so  little  friction,  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  gain  serious  attention  to  that  which  is  more  complex 
and  perhaps  calls  for  more  careful  study  and  adminis- 
tration. It  is  said  that  the  great  dynamos  at  Niagara, 
which  supply  power  for  the  entire  city  of  Buffalo  and 
adjacent  places,  run  easily  and  noiselessly,  and  that  only 
four  men  are  required  for  their  care.  But  smoothness 
of  running  and  serenity  are  not  the  tests  of  a  school 
of  high  ideals.  Such  a  school  may  not  look  so  well  on 
the  surface.  It  does  not  plan  for  immediate  results. 
It  will  not  run  itself.  Scientific  education  is  no  au- 
tomaton process,  but  requires  endless  adaptation,  read- 
justment, and  discovery.  Unquestionably  the  school  of 
individual  differentiation  will  be  more  complex  and 
more  difficult  to  conduct  than  the  one  of  Procrusl 


12  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

method.  It  is  infinitely  harder  to  adapt  one  school  to 
the  needs  of  a  thousand  pupils  than  to  adapt  one  thou- 
sand pupils  to  a  single  plan. 

Concerning  the  inadequacies  of  the  graded  school 
system,  let  us  call  up  the  testimony  of  a  few  competent 
witnesses. 

In  1880  Dr.  Washington  Gladden  made  a  suggestive 
investigation  *  concerning  the  school  training  of  one 
hundred  representative  successful  men  in  the  city  of 
Springfield,  Massachusetts.  The  one  hundred  men  in- 
cluded "  bank  presidents,  insurance  company  presidents, 
chief  managers  of  railroads,  heads  of  the  most  impor- 
tant manufacturing  companies,  leading  merchants,  lead- 
ing lawyers  and  physicians,  chief  editors,  and  principals 
of  schools/'  Letter  inquiries  were  addressed  to  these 
persons,  asking  "  Whether  your  home  during  the  first 
fifteen  years  of  your  life  was  on  a  farm  or  in  a  village 
or  city?" 

Of  the  100  persons  so  addressed,  89  made  replies. 
The  reports  of  these  89  persons  showed  that  12  spent 
the  first  fifteen  years  in  the  city,  12  in  the  village,  and 
64  on  the  farm;  but  of  the  24  who  lived  in  villages  and 
towns,  6  were  practically  farmer  boys,  for  they  lived  in 
small  villages  or  on  the  outskirts  of  cities.  Seventy 
had  such  training  as  the  farming  boy  usually  received,  f 


*  St.  Nicholas,  March,  1880. 

f  The  writer  has  frequently  asked  approximately  the  same 
question  of  large  and  representative  gatherings  of  educators,  to 
find  the  same  remarkable  testimony  that  more  than  two  thirds  of 
these  leaders  have  come  up  through  the  rigorous  processes  of  the 
unconventional  rural  school.  The  lives  of  America's  college  presi- 
dents present  even  more  corroborative  evidence  of  the  ungraded 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  13 

To  this  implied  criticism  of  Dr.  Gladden  the  school- 
men have  made  a  weak  defence,  their  principal  argu- 
ment being  that  this  study  brought  out  the  differences 
in  conditions  of  life  as  the  great  determining  factor. 
This  only  goes  to  show  the  lack  of  adjustment  of  schools 
to  the  needs  of  changing  times.  Education  to  be  sci-. 
entific  must  preserve  to  the  world  the  great  fundamental 
processes  which  all  evolution  has  shown  to  be  necessary 
for  the  best  culture  of  vigorous  life. 

President  David  Starr  Jordan,  in  his  vigorous  utter- 
ances from  Stanford  University,  has  been  doing  much 
toward  the  reconstruction  of  schools.  Says  he:  * 

"  There  is  no  virtue  in  educational  systems  unless 
the  system  meets  the  needs  of  the  individual.  It  is  not 
the  ideal  man,  or  the  average  man,  who  is  to  be 
trained;  it  is  the  particular  man;  as  the  forces  of  Na- 
ture have  made  him.  His  own  qualities  determine  his 
needs.  'A  child  is  better  unborn  than  untaught/  A 
child  is  still  untaught,  if  by  his  teaching  we  have  not 
emphasized  his  individual  character,  if  we  have  not 
strengthened  his  will  and  its  guide  and  guardian — the 
mind.  .  .  .  All  education  must  be  individual,  fitted  to 
individual  needs.  That  which  is  not  is  unworthy  of  the 
name.  A  misfit  education  is  no  education  at  all.  The 
rewards  of  investigation,  the  pleasures  of  high  think- 
ing, the  charms  of  harmony,  have  never  yet  been  for  the 
multitude.  To  the  multitude  they  must  be  accessible 
in  the  future.  ...  If  we  are  to  make  men  and  women 
out  of  boys  and  girls,  it  will  be  as  individuals  and  not 

school's  virility.    Surely,  soil  and  rough-shod  opportunity  hare 
well  done  their  work  in  the  making  of  men. 
*  Jordan's  Care  and  Culture  of  Men. 


U  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

as  classes.  The  best  field  of  corn  is  that  in  which  the 
individual  stalks  are  most  strong  and  most  fruitful. 
Class  legislation  has  always  proved  pernicious  and  in- 
effective, whether  in  the  university  or  in  a  state.  The 
strongest  nation  is  that  in  which  the  individual  man 
is  most  helpful  and  most  independent.  The  best  school 
is  that  which  exists  for  the  individual  pupil." 

President  Eliot,  in  his  admirable  article  on  The 
Function  of  Education  in  Democratic  Society,*  has 
said: 

"  Another  important  function  of  the  public  school  in 
a  democracy  is  the  discovery  and  development  of  the  gift 
or  capacity  of  each  individual  child.  This  discovery 
should  be  made  at  the  earliest  possible  age,  and,  once 
made,  should  always  influence,  and  sometimes  deter- 
mine, the  education  of  the  individual.  It  is  for  the  in- 
terest of  society  to  make  the  most  of  every  useful  gift 
or  faculty  which  any  member  may  fortunately  possess, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  main  advantages  of  fluent  and  mo- 
bile society  that  it  is  more  likely  than  any  other  society 
to  secure  the  fruition  of  individual  capacities.  To  make 
the  most  of  any  individual's  peculiar  power,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  discover  it  early,  and  then  train  it  continuously 
and  assiduously.  It  is  wonderful  what  apparently  small 
personal  gifts  may  become  the  means  of  conspicuous 
service  or  achievement,  if  only  they  get  discovered, 
trained,  and  applied.  In  the  ideal  democratic  school  no 
two  children  would  follow  the  same  course  of  study  or 
have  the  same  tasks,  except  that  they  would  all  need 
to  learn  the  use  of  the  elementary  tools  of  education — 

*  Eliot's  Educational  Reform,  p.  408. 


'THE  LOSSES  OP  TEE  SCHOOL.  15 

reading,  writing,  and  ciphering.  The  different  children 
would  hardly  have  any  identical  needs.  There  might 
be  a  minimum  standard  of  attainment  in  every  branch 
of  study,  but  no  maximum.  The  perception  or  discov- 
ery of  the  individual  gift  or  capacity  would  often  be 
effected  in  the  elementary  school,  but  more  generally 
in  the  secondary;  and  the  making  of  these  discoveries 
should  be  held  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the 
teacher's  work.  The  vague  desire  for  equality  in  a 
democracy  has  made  great  mischief  in  democratic 
schools.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  equality  of  gifts,  or 
powers,  or  faculties,  among  either  children  or  adults. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  the  utmost  diversity;  and  edu- 
cation and  all  the  experiences  of  life  increase  these 
diversities,  because  the  school,  and  the  earning  of  a 
livelihood,  and  the  reaction  of  the  individual  upon  his 
surroundings,  all  tend  strongly  to  magnify  innate  diver- 
sities. The  pretended  democratic  school  with  an  in- 
flexible programme  is  fighting  not  only  against  Nature, 
but  the  interests  of  democratic  society.  Flexibility  of 
programme  should  begin  in  the  elementary  school  years 
before  the  period  of  secondary  education  is  reached. 
There  should  be  some  choice  of  subjects  of  study  by  ten 
years  of  age,  and  much  variety  by  fifteen  years  of  age. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  programmes  of  elementary  as 
well  as  secondary  schools  should  represent  thoroughly 
the  chief  divisions  of  knowledge — namely,  language  and 
literature,  mathematics,  natural  science,  and  history, 
besides  drawing,  manual  work,  and  music.  If  school 
programmes  fail  to  represent  the  main  varieties  of  intel- 
lectual activity,  they  will  not  afford  the  means  of  discov- 
ering the  individual  gifts  and  tendencies  of  the  pupils." 


16  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Hold  the  public  schools,  as  they  are  largely  consti- 
tuted, up  before  this  comprehensive  mirror,  and  what 
do  we  see? 

Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale  remarks,  "  My  experience 
with  schools  and  with  the  college  teaches  me  to  dis- 
trust all  the  mechanisms  of  education."  *  And  again: 
"  I  do  not  lay  much  stress  on  the  teacher.  A  great 
teacher,  who  will  inspire  you,  is  certainly  a  great 
blessing."  f 

Says  Prof.  John  Dewey,t  "  The  school  is  not  the 
place  where  the  child  lives,"  and,  "  There  is  very  little 
place  in  the  traditional  school  for  the  child  to  work." 

The  Forum  articles  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Eice,  on  the  public 
schools  of  the  United  States,  have  contained  some  pro- 
found criticisms  which  deserve  the  careful  considera- 
tion of  every  person  interested  in  the  improvement  of 
existing  methods  of  education. 

Dr.  E.  Stuver,  in  making  an  investigation  *  as  to 
the  values  in  our  present  system  of  education  as  pre- 
sented in  the  requested  opinions  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  our  leading  educators  and  physicians,  said  con- 
cerning those  who  expressed  themselves  on  this  particu- 
lar point:  "  Twenty-nine  out  of  sixty-three  educators, 
and  thirty  out  of  thirty-five  physicians,  do  not  think  our 
present  course  of  study  best  calculated  to  develop  the 
highest  physical  and  intellectual  powers  of  the  child. 
Eighteen  educators  and  one  physician  are  doubtful." 

*  Bale's  How  I  was  Educated, 
f  Hale's  What  Career? 

J  Dewey's  The  School  and  Society. 

*  Stuver's  How  does  our  School  System  influence  the  Health 
and  Development  of  the  Child  f 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  17 

"  It  is  not  strange/'  says  Dr.  Hall,*  "  that  so  grand 
an  institution  should  become  of  itself  an  object  of  love, 
pride,  and  inspiration;  that  there  should  be  rivalry  in 
mechanical  excellences  like  attendance,  punctuality, 
order,  percentages,  etc.;  that  in  Austria  and  Eussia 
teachers  should  wear  uniforms  as  government  officials; 
that  reformers  should  be  feared;  that  there  should 
sometimes  be  tyranny  and  jobbery.  Especially  here, 
where  supervision  itself  is  little  skilled,  and  where  one 
fourth  of  our  teachers  leave  the  business  each  year,  there 
is  peculiar  danger  that  the  individual  pupil  will  be  sub- 
ordinated to  the  machine,  for  this  is  the  chief  vice  of 
the  'prentice  and  of  bad  teachers  generally." 

To  these  criticisms,  made  by  earnest  men  in  kindly 
spirit,  the  school  people  have  made  replies  without  ex- 
haustive examination.  Now,  let  us  see  if  their  defence 
is  well  founded. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  table  on  page  19,  entitled 
A  Study  of  School  Ages.  It  is  furnished  by  a  super- 
intendent in  a  fairly  representative  city,  and  consti- 
tutes a  section  which,  by  the  Board  of  Education,  was 
ordered  stricken  out  of  the  superintendent's  annual  re- 
port, because  it  was  supposed  to  reflect  on  the  schools 
of  that  city. 

A  glance  at  the  table  will  show  that  it  represents 
a  complete  working  school  system  of  all  grades  from 
the  kindergarten  through  the  high  school,  and  includes 
5,801  pupils.  The  number  of  pupils  of  each  year  of 
age  is  shown  for  every  grade  with  totals.  Theoreti- 
cally, in  a  school  supposed  to  be  graded,  if  a  child 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  June,  1891. 


18  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

enters  school  at  five  years  of  age,  he  should  reach 
the  second  grade  at  six,  the  third  grade  at  seven, 
the  fourth  grade  at  eight,  the  fifth  grade  at  nine,  the 
sixth  grade  at  ten,  the  seventh  grade  at  eleven,  the 
eighth  grade  at  twelve,  the  ninth  grade  at  thirteen,  the 
high  school  at  fourteen,  and  he  should  graduate  from 
the  high  school  at  the  end  of  the  four  years'  course  at 
nineteen;  or,  at  least,  he  should  not  be  more  than  one 
year  older  in  entering  any  given  grade  than  is  indicated 
by  the  respective  ages  stated.  Practically  he  is  noth- 
ing of  the  kind,  as  the  study  will  show.  In  fact,  the 
pupils  are  considerably  older. 

In  this  table  the  full-faced  figures  indicate  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  of  normal  age;  the  figures  to  the  right  of 
these  full-faced  figures  may  be  said  to  indicate  pupils 
over  age;  figures  to  the  left,  pupils  under  age. 

"  For  instance,  in  grade  four,  85  pupils  are  of  normal 
age;  11  are  one  year  under  age;  3  are  eight  years  over 
age;  2  plus  3,  or  5,  are  seven  years  over  age;  24  plus  5, 
or  29,  are  six  years  over  age;  56  plus  29,  or  85,  are 
five  years  over  age;  61  plus  85,  or  146,  are  four  years 
over  age;  96  plus  146,  or  242,  are  three  years  over  age; 
139  plus  242,  or  381,  are  two  years  over  age;  178  plus 
381,  or  559,  are  one  year  over  age.  In  the  same  way 
figures  are  given  for  each  of  the  other  grades. 

A  careful  study  of  this  table  presents  the  following 
serious  reflections: 

1.  Of  the  5,801  pupils  comprehended  in  this  study, 
1,254  (22  per  cent)  are  of  normal  age  for  entering 
the  various  grades,  172  are  one  year  under  age,  3  are 
two  years  under  age;  4,372  (75  per  cent)  are  one  year 
over  proper  entering  age,  2,456  (43  per  cent)  are  two 


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20  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

years  over  age,  1,204  (21  per  cent)  are  three  years 
over  age,  548  (9  per  cent)  are  four  years  over  age,  235 
(4  per  cent)  are  five  years  over  age,  91  are  six  years  over 
age,  28  are  seven  years  over  age,  8  are  eight  years  over 
age,  and  1  is  eleven  years  over  age.  Some  minor  cor-- 
rections  should  perhaps  be  applied  to  these  figures,  as 
will  be  shown  later  on. 

2.  It  will  be  observed  that  41  per  cent  of  these 
pupils  enter  the  first  grade  at  under  six  years  of  age 
(the  normal  age  for  entering  this  school's  first  grade 
is  five);  29  per  cent  enter  the  second  grade  at  under 
seven;  13  per  cent,  the  third  grade  at  under  eight;  14.5 
per  cent,  the  fourth  grade  at  under  nine;  12  per  cent, 
the  fifth  grade  at  under  ten;  16  per  cent,  the  sixth  grade 
at  under  eleven;  19  per  cent,  the  seventh  grade  at  under 
twelve;  31  per  cent,  the  eighth  grade  at  under  thirteen; 
30  per  cent,  the  ninth  grade  at  under  fourteen;  23  per 
cent  enter  the  first  year  of  the  high  school  at  under 
fifteen;  29  per  cent,  the  second  year  of  the  high  school 
at  under  sixteen;  39  per  cent,  the  third  year  of  the 
high  school  at  under  seventeen;  and  29  per  cent  enter 
the  fourth  year  of  the  high  school  at  under  eighteen. 

3.  This  over  age  no  doubt  arises  in  small  degree  from 
irregularity  in  attendance,  due  to  carelessness  of  par- 
ents or  sickness  of  children.     It  is  also  partly  due  to 
the  unfortunate  necessity  of  some  children  to  change 
from  city  to  city  where  gradations  are  not  the  same. 
These,  however,  are  minor  factors  in  a  healthy  New 
England  city  where  compulsory  education  is  in  force. 

4.  A  principal  factor  in  tending  to  this  over  age 
lies  in  the  fact  that  instruction  is  not  largely  scien- 
tific— that  is,  it  is  not  to  any  extent  built  on  a  study  of 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  21 

the  child  with  individual  adaptation  of  nutrition  and 
culture  to  make  him  individually  strong.  The  opportu- 
nity to  drop  behind  the  class  is  always  an  individual  op- 
portunity; the  opportunity  to  get  ahead  is  almost  always 
limited  by  class  environment.  Between  these  two  kinds 
of  opportunity  there  is  an  abysmal  difference.  As 
schools  usually  go,  it  is  ten  times  harder  for  a  pupil 
to  gain  a  grade  than  to  lose  one;  ten  times  harder  to 
rise  than  to  fall.  Never  until  the  school  is  built  fun- 
damentally for  the  individual  will  this  element  of  loss 
disappear. 

5.  The  table  also  illustrates  in  large  degree  the  pov- 
erty of  the  teaching  in  the  lower  grades.  This  poverty 
is  of  two  kinds:  first,  the  poverty  of  the  teacher;  sec- 
ond, the  poverty  of  the  subject-matter.  Unfortunate 
indeed  is  the  practice  in  most  schools  which  recognises 
no  promotion  of  teachers  excepting  that  which  places 
them  in  the  higher  grade.  The  primary  schools,  in  the 
average,  are  the  rewards  of  incompetence  and  inexperi- 
ence. When  in  the  garden  does  the  growing  plant  need 
the  best  attention  ?  At  a  time  when  the  child  needs  the 
best  culture,  the  primary  school  is  impoverished  that 
the  teacher  may  be  advanced  to  higher  salary,  and  the 
children  languish  while  another  apprentice  weakling  is 
being  trained  to  her  work.  No  one  can  estimate  the 
fearful  loss  to  the  child  from  being  compelled  to  lose 
a  year  under  an  incompetent  teacher.  This  rotten 
work  carried  forward  into  other  years  becomes  a  foun- 
dation on  which  no  subsequent  teacher  can  build  a  solid 
superstructure.  Fearfully  expensive  is  poor  teaching. 

The  poverty  of  subject-matter  is  also  responsible 
for  much  of  the  loss.  While  it  is  impossible  to  accu- 


22  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

rately  classify  results  according  to  these  two  factors,  it 
is  probable  that  much  of  the  loss  is  due  to  the  unfortu- 
nate subject-matter  of  beginning  grades.  Reading,  for 
instance,  in  a  primary  school,  is  a  poverty-laden  study. 
It  begins  with  abstraction,  and  prematurely  consumes 
energies  on  very  meagre  results.  The  beginning  pupil 
can  study  reading  profitably  only  a  small  fraction  of  his 
time.  Reading  in  the  primary  school  can  not  be  an  ex- 
ercise of  self-activity  to  any  considerable  extent,  and 
therefore  should  be  left  to  a  subsequent  period  when 
results  will  obtain  more  rapidly.  The  fact,  shown  by 
the  table,  that  there  are  570  pupils  of  normal  age  for 
the  first  grade  but  1,076  pupils  in  that  grade,  indi- 
cates the  tremendous  losses  to  which  reference  is  made. 
Practically  it  must  take,  in  the  average,  two  years  for 
a  child  to  pass  over  the  meagre  work  of  this  poverty- 
stricken  grade. 

6.  The  totals  at  the  bottom  of  the  table  show  the 
success  of  the  operation  of  compulsory  law  in  keeping 
children  in  school,  at  least  until  the  age  of  fourteen, 
when  the  law  permits  outside  employment.  That  is, 
570  are  five  years  of  age,  590  are  six  years  of  age,  522 
are  seven  years  of  age,  518  are  eight  years  of  age,  499 
are  nine  years  of  age,  478  are  ten  years  of  age,  507  are 
eleven  years  of  age,  500  are  twelve  years  of  age,  493 
are  thirteen  years  of  age,  393  are  fourteen  years  of  age, 
208  are  fifteen  years  of  age,  179  are  sixteen  years  of 
age,  105  are  seventeen  years  of  age,  72  are  eighteen  years 
of  age,  45  are  nineteen  years  of  age,  6  are  twenty  years 
of  age,  7  are  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  15  are  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  The  number  is  fairly  constant  until 
the  age  of  optional  attendance  begins,  the  mortality 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  23 

losses  being  about  offset  by  the  accessions  from  private 
schools.  The  totals  at  the  right  indicate  the  diminu- 
tion of  opportunity.  The  pupils  must  spend,  on  the 
average,  more  than  a  year  in  any  one  grade.  The  com- 
pulsion of  the  law  is  not  attended  by  the  democratic 
opportunity  which  justice  requires.  An  unfair  advan- 
tage is  taken  of  the  imprisoned  child. 

7.  Another  element  in  this  study  presenting  itself 
for  reflection  lies  in  the  attempted  enrichment  of  sub- 
ject-matter which  has  come  in  recent  years  in  the  lower- 
grade  schools.  Every  year  something  new  is  added  to 
the  course  of  study.  The  high  school  is  now  doing  the 
work  of  the  college  of  fifty  years  ago;  and  the  grammar 
school  is  covering  much  of  the  former  work  of  the  high 
school.  There  has  been  enrichment  without  elimina- 
tion; extension  of  work  without  extension  of  time,  ex- 
cepting perhaps  in  the  interpolation  of  the  ninth  grade 
in  many  schools.  I  do  not  say  that  there  is  not  com- 
pensation in  all  this;  but  let  not  the  devotee  of  the 
graded  school  disguise  the  fact — he  is  gradually  raising 
the  age  limit — the  course  of  study  under  his  plan  calls 
for  more  than  thirteen  years  of  time. 

Fundamentally,  the  principle  of  enrichment  is  cor- 
rect. The  man  who  has  seen  much  of  the  world  is  bet- 
ter educated  than  the  one  who  has  seen  little.  The 
child  loses  nothing  by  facing  a  wealth  of  Nature.  But 
enrichment  must  have  the  enriched  teacher.  The 
standards  and  ideals  of  older  work  will  not  answer  the 
requirements  of  the  new.  There  must  be  correlation, 
elimination,  and  correct  method.  With  the  teacher  of 
training  and  versatility  there  can  be  endless  enrichment 
without  loss;  but  it  can  not  be  by  text  requirement. 
4 


24  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

The  showings  of  this  study  of  ages  should  give  cause 
for  profound  reflection.  The  course  of  study,  in  most 
schools,  originally  provided  for  twelve  years  of  study. 
The  kindergarten  has  been  added  and  the  ninth  grade 
interpolated,  making  a  nominal  gradation  covering 
fourteen  years ;  and  yet  the  table  shows  that  the  course 
of  study  actually  calls  for  two  or  three  years  of  addi- 
tional time.  This  perhaps  does  not  entirely  show  in  the 
ages  of  those  who  finally  graduate,  but  it  would  be 
abundantly  manifest  if  those  who  from  discouragement 
drop  out  of  the  school  could  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration. 

There  is  a  great  loss  in  the  detention  of  pupils  too 
long  in  the  elementary  schools.  The  studies  of  the 
higher  grammar  grades  and  of  the  high  school  are  so 
much  richer  and  more  culture-giving  that  pupils  should 
have  the  earliest  possible  introduction  to  these  schools. 
Indeed,  it  is  a  crime  to  keep  younger  children  so  long 
on  the  dry  husks  of  most  elementary  education.  For 
similar  reasons  it  is  important  that  students  should 
reach  the  college  not  later  than  at  eighteen  years  of 
age.  It  is  discouraging  to  young  people  to  come  to  the 
age  of  twenty  or  more  to  find  there  are  still  four  years 
of  the  college  and  three  years  at  the  university  between 
them  and  entrance  on  professional  life.  President 
Eliot's  argument  for  the  reduction  of  the  college  course 
to  three  years  is  therefore  economically  sound.  Am- 
bitious students  should  reach  the  university  earlier. 
The  possible  marriage  age  of  the  student  is  abnormally 
high;  it  should  be  lessened.  President  Jordan's  creed 
of  opportunity  to  the  common  man  also  has  important 
bearing  on  the  argument.  We  can  not  bring  the  rich 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  25 

values  of  higher  opportunity  to  the  common  man  if 
we  deny  him  early  admittance.  In  like  manner,  the  ele- 
mentary and  the  secondary  schools  must  short-cut  their 
methods  and  curriculum.  There  must  be  elimination  of 
dead  time  and  profitless  tasks.  The  teacher  must  be 
more  competent,  the  studies  more  enriched.  The  pupil 
must  have  unlimited  opportunity  to  accomplish  and  to 
progress.  We  must  find  our  way  to  enrichment  and 
opportunity. 

Concerning  the  showings  of  the  above  table  certain 
questions  will  probably  arise. 

What  is  meant  by  the  normal  age  of  a  grade  pupil? 
I  do  not  know  that  I  clearly  understand. 

The  normal  age  of  a  grade  pupil  is  a  hypothetical 
term  forced  by  the  nomenclature  and  practices  of  the 
graded  school.  The  graded  school  of  Massachusetts, 
for  instance,  presupposes  a  course  of  thirteen  graces, 
each  grade  being  planned  to  require  nominally  one  year 
of  time.  The  pupil  enters  the  first  grade  at  five  years 
of  age;  and  therefore,  in  terms  of  gradation,  five  may 
be  said  to  be  the  normal  age  of  the  first  grade,  six 
years  of  the  second  grade,  seven  of  the  third  grade,  etc. 

Are  there  no  corrections  to  be  applied  to  the  show- 
ings of  the  table  ?•  Has  not  the  discussion  already  inti- 
mated that  there  might  be  some? 

The  table  does  not  show  the  fraction  of  the  year. 
In  many  schools  admittance  to  the  first  grade  is  only  at 
the  beginning  of  the  year  or  semester;  which,  however, 
is  no  defence,  for  in  the  school  of  individual  conserva- 
tion every  day  is  a  beginning  day.  The  greatest  cor- 
rection should  probably  be  because  pupils  do  not  all 
come  of  age  at  the  beginning  of  the  school  year;  and 


26  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

consequently  the  average  age  of  pupils  in  a  given  grade 
may  be  half  a  year  more  than  indicated  in  the  table. 
Even  with  this  correction  the  losses  are  enormously 
large,  the  corrected  table  showing  more  than  two  thirds 
of  the  pupils  to  be  of  over  age. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  dangerous  custom  of  plan- 
ning so  much  for  what  is  termed  the  average  pupil, 
whichr  fallacy  is  exceptionally  apparent  from  a  study  of 
this  table.  For  instance,  the  average  age  of  pupils  in 
each  grade,  even  in  this  table,  in  many  instances  is  only 
one  step  removed  from  a  normal  age — that  is,  the 
average  age  of  the  first  grade  is  somewhere  in  the  four- 
hundred  group;  but  such  customary  manner  of  esti- 
mating by  averages  utterly  loses  sight  of  the  immense 
number  of  individuals  to  the  right  of  such  average  line. 
Says  Dr.  D.  F.  Lincoln,  "  The  average  does  not  justly 
represent  the  individual  any  more  than  the  army  ration 
corresponds  to  the  appetite  of  each  soldier." 

How  do  you  account  for  the  showing  that  the  per- 
centage of  loss  is  not  so  great  in  the  higher  grades  as  in 
the  lower?  From  the  table  it  seems  that  there  is  some 
recovery. 

That  recovery  is  apparent,  not  real.  The  school 
from  which  this  table  was  taken  is  in  a  Massachusetts 
city,  where  the  law  compels  attendance  until  the  age 
of  fourteen.  When  this  limit  of  restraint  was  passed, 
many  pupils  gradually  dropped  from  the  school,  the 
losses  being  mostly  of  those  who  were  most  discouraged. 
The  ones  who  remained  in  school  represent  largely  the 
survival  of  the  most  favoured. 

Much  criticism  of  the  public  schools  has  appeared 
because  the  pupils  do  not  reach  the  high  school.  The 


THE  LOSSES  OP  THE  SCHOOL.  27 

reply  has  almost  universally  been  made,  that  it  is  because 
they  do  not  remain  in  school.  Does  not  this  table  show 
that  it  is  because  they  are  in  the  lower  grades  and  can 
not  reach  the  high  school? 

Precisely  so.  The  figures  to  the  right  of  the  normal 
line  indicate  largely  the  losses  of  the  school,  and  demon- 
strate the  inefficiency  of  the  graded  system.  Its  failure 
lies  in  the  facts:  1.  That  the  beginning  time  is  at  the 
convenience  of  a  mechanical  plan,  and  not  at  the 
convenience  of  the  pupil.  2.  It  ignores  the  working 
strength  and  general  experience  which  come  with  ma- 
turity. 3.  Its  progressions  are  by  the  class.  Under 
its  practices  losses  are  easy,  hut  recovery  is  extremely 
difficult.  It  lacks  easy  adjustment.  4.  It  plans  its 
work  for  the  average  pupil,  which  is  an  impersonal  and 
impossible  factor.  5.  It  does  not  hold  its  own  by  merit, 
but  by  compulsory  enactment.  Other  details  of  its  in- 
efficiency will  appear  as  we  proceed  with  this  discussion. 

Is  it  not  pretty  generally  claimed  that  the  graded 
school  system  affects  a  great  gain  by  its  classification 
of  pupils  of  fairly  equal  ability  into  the  same  school  or 
room?  Does  not  this  effect  economy  in  the  teacher's 
effort  and  advantage  to  all  concerned? 

There  is  no  objection  to  classification,  provided  it  is 
of  flexible  character.  Certainly  there  is  some  advan- 
tage in  gathering  into  working  sections  pupils  of  kin- 
dred interest  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  the  same  gen- 
eral working  strength.  What  is  contended  against  is  the 
assumption  that  the  graded  organization,  as  operated 
almost  universally  in  the  public  schools,  meets  the  re- 
quirements of  the  needs  of  individuals.  I  care  not  how 
well  a  school  may  appear  to  be  graded  at  the  beginning 


28  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  the  year,  it  will  always  contain  pupils  who  can  do  far 
more  work  than  others,  in  addition  to  which  are  other 
potent  factors  which  must  not  be  disregarded.  There 
is  far  more  difference  in  the  working  abilities  of  the 
pupils  of  a  given  class  in  a  graded  school  than  is  gen- 
erally estimated.  The  graded  school  does  not  grade. 

In  illustration  of  this  statement  attention  is  called 
to  the  chart  on  the  opposite  page,  presenting  the  results 
of  a  study  of  the  differences  in  working  abilities  of  an 
actual  class  of  twenty  pupils. 

This  chart  represents  the  units  of  work  in  Caesar 
accomplished  individually  by  twenty  free  workers  in 
one  hundred  and  fifty  aggregate  hours  of  time.  The 
class  was  in  the  Central  High  School  of  Pueblo,  Colo- 
rado, the  teacher  being  Miss  Ida  Brock  Haslup.  The 
work  was  distributed  through  one  hundred  days,  which, 
however,  included  some  holiday  time ;  the  period  was  an 
hour  and  a  half  per  day.  All  the  work  was  done  in  the 
Latin  laboratory,  there  being  no  home  preparation  of 
lessons.  The  reading  of  Cassar  text  was  attended  by  the 
usual  collateral  work  in  grammar,  composition,  and  his- 
torical reference.  The  method  was  individual,  so  that 
each  pupil  had  practically  the  value  of  the  entire  period, 
there  being  no  interruption  of  the  general  class  while 
one  individual  was  qualifying  to  his  teacher.  Each 
pupil  not  only  studied  the  text,  but  qualified  by  recita- 
tion and  quiz  on  every  sentence  of  it.  The  test  of  ad- 
vancement was  thoroughness  in  each  unit,  without 
which  the  pupil  could  not  pass  on  to  a  succeeding  chap- 
ter. It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  the  amount  of  work 
accomplished,  the  work  being  done  entirely  in  the 
teacher's  presence,  gives  an  unusually  good  opportu- 


[PUPIL  BOOK  I.  54  CHAPTERS.  |  BOOK  II.  35  CHAPTERS.  |  BOOK  III.  29  CHAPTERS.  |BooxIV.  SSCHAPTEKS. 

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H 

X 

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X 

X 

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X 

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X 

M 

H 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

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X 

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X 

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H 

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X 

X 

X 

X 

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X 

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X 

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X 

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IQ 

X 

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X 

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X 

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S 

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0) 

H 

30  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

nity  to  measure  the  differences  in  working  ability  in 
this  particular  subject. 

The  teacher's  record  of  advancement  was  more  ex- 
tended than  this  sheet,  a  pupil's  record  continuing  for 
several  pages,  each  chapter  in  the  four  books  of  Caesar 
being  represented  by  its  own  column  for  marking  the 
limits  of  advancement.  On  a  chart  like  this  it  is  im- 
possible to  represent  so  many  columns,  therefore  the 
chapters  are  grouped  by  fives.  A  check  (x)  in  column 
110  indicates  that  the  pupil  has  qualified  to  the  end 
of  Chapter  CX  (Book  III,  Chapter  XXI). 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Pupil  A  covered  110  chap- 
ters; B,  90  chapters;  C,  140  chapters;  D,  95  chapters; 
E,  80  chapters;  F,  85  chapters;  G,  80  chapters;  H,  75 
chapters ;  1, 70  chapters ;  J,  90  chapters ;  K,  80  chapters ; 
L,  85  chapters;  M,  65  chapters;  N,  60  chapters;  0,  45 
chapters;  P,  45  chapters;  Q,  45  chapters;  E,  70  chapters; 
S,  60  chapters;  T,  40  chapters. 

Do  you  mean  to  say  that  these  twenty  pupils  repre- 
sent an  average  class  in  a  graded  school? 

I  mean  to  imply  just  that,  and,  furthermore,  a  class 
where  pupils  study  Latin  not  by  requirement  but  by 
choice.  There  being  no  compulsion,  the  table  does  not 
represent  other  pupils,  known  in  many  schools,  who 
would  make  the  range  even  greater.  Yes,  the  class  is 
a  representative  one,  excepting  that  the  pupils  here  are 
given  opportunity  to  accomplish  what  is  best  for  each 
individual  case. 

This  table  will  be  discussed  more  fully  later  on.  It 
is  presented  here  to  demonstrate  effectually  that  there 
is  a  much  wider  range  in  the  differentiation  of  the 
working  abilities  of  pupils  than  is  generally  supposed, 


THE  LOSSES  OF   THE  SCHOOL.  31 

This  differentiation  of  abilities  represents  a  differentia- 
tion of  needs  which  the  graded  school  is  not  meeting. 
If  one  pupil  in  a  working  group  can  cover  one  hundred 
and  forty  chapters  of  Caesar  in  the  same  time  required 
by  another  for  the  accomplishment  of  forty  chapters, 
then  equity  demands  that  he  be  not  held  back  to  mark 
time  for  the  slower  pupil's  benefit.  Again,  if  the 
Pupil  T  requires  one  hundred  and  fifty  hours  to  do  his 
forty  chapters  well,  then  every  principle  of  justice  de- 
mands that  he  should  not  be  prematurely  hurried  for- 
ward. Furthermore,  he  should  not  be  degraded  in  the 
eyes  of  the  school  because  he  does  need  more  time. 
There  should  be  no  tail  of  the  class  nor  losses  from  the 
school's  playing  "  Crack-the-Whip."  The  study  shows 
conclusively  that  even  in  a  "  well-graded  class  "  there 
are  some  pupils  who  can  do  three  times  as  much  work 
as  others. 

Sanitarians  will  ask  the  question: 

How  did  this  working  plan  meet  the  needs  of  pupils 
sick  and  well,  to  which  reference  has  already  been 
made? 

The  plan  met  the  physiological  needs  of  the  pupils 
far  better  than  the  graded  school  can.  For  instance, 
one  of  the  girls  was  absent  because  of  sickness  for  two 
months.  While  sick,  she  was  not  worried  about  keep- 
ing up  with  the  class,  and  returning,  took  up  the  work 
just  where  she  had  left  it.  Another  girl  was  at  that 
critical  period  in  adolescence  when  all  the  life  ener- 
gies seem  centred  in  vital  organic  changes.  She  needed 
accommodation  and  found  it.  Another  pupil  was  of 
consumptive  tendency,  and  had  opportunity  to  do  just 
what  he  could.  The  plan  permitted  some  to  gain  an 


32  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

education  who  otherwise  would  have  been  exiled  from 
the  school.  Some  of  these  pupils  probably  did  not  work 
the  full  one  hundred  and  fifty  hours,  but  as  none  of 
these  are  represented  in  the  maximum  or  minimum 
accomplishments  of  work,  their  inclusion  in  this  study 
does  not  affect  the  showing  of  extreme  range  of  differ- 
ences in  working  abilities. 

The  details  of  this  method  will  be  discussed  in  a 
subsequent  chapter. 

Why  in  this  study  have  you  taken  a  class  in  Latin? 
Why  not  have  taken  a  class  in  some  other  subject,  say 
in  a  lower-grade  school? 

A  class  in  Latin  has  been  taken  for  this  representa- 
tion because  no  other  subject  of  study  gives  us  so  well 
a  fairly  uniform  unit  of  work.  When  a  chapter  in 
Caesar  is  mentioned,  every  one  knows  what  is  meant. 
This  is  not  the  case  in  arithmetic,  where  problems  or 
sections  or  pages  may  vary  greatly  in  difficulty  and 
length  of  time  required;  nor  would  it  be  the  case  in 
grammar,  geography,  or  many  other  branches.  In 
Caesar,  five  or  ten  chapters  represent  fairly  well  that 
many  units  or  norms,  and  therefore  give  a  satisfactory 
standard  for  measurement  and  comparison. 

However,  other  tables  will  throw  light  on  this  ques- 
tion of  differences  in  working  ability.  Indeed,  almost 
every  subject  taught  in  the  public  schools  can  be  abun- 
dantly illustrated  by  similar  advancement  sheets. 

On  the  opposite  page  is  a  table  representing  the  com- 
parative advancements  of  twenty-four  pupils  working 
together  in  a  class  in  the  last  grade  of  the  grammar 
school,  before  admission  to  the  high  school.  The  study 
is  arithmetic,  the  subjects  covered  being  the  more  ad- 


DIFFERENTIATION  OF  WORKING  ABILITIES  IN  ARITHMETIC. 
Class  of  24  pupils— another  class  also  in  room. 


50    100    150    200    250   300    350    400    450 

198 

241 

335 

479 

161 

274 

337 

178 

284 

14T 

277 

215 

170 

218 

197 

155 

479 

140 

192 

292 

479 

278 

• 

0 

361 

34:  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

vanced  applications  of  percentage.  In  this  case  the  ad- 
vancement of  each  pupil  is  represented  by  a  line  of 
lineal  measurement,  showing  the  number  of  pieces  of 
work  covered.  The  chart  is  planned  to  show  a  field  of 
five  hundred  pieces  of  work. 

Do  you  mean  to  say  that  there  is  that  much  differ- 
ence in  pupils  in  a  well-graded  grammar  school? 

The  showing  is  just  that.  The  working  sheets  from 
which  this  table  was  compiled  were  furnished  by  Gram- 
mar Master  Wilbur  F.  Nichols,  then  of  Holyoke,  Massa- 
chusetts, but  now  supervising  principal  at  New  Haven, 
Connecticut.  The  class  represented  was  as  well  graded 
as  classes  usually  are  in  any  school.  The  pupils  had 
all  been  working  with  uniform  advancement  until  en- 
trance on  this  experimental  test;  then  they  were  per- 
mitted to  travel,  under  careful  supervision,  each  at  his 
own  rate  of  speed.  The  study  began  at  a  uniform  time 
and  stopped  at  a  uniform  time.  It  will  be  seen  that 
Pupil  A  made  an  advancement  of  193  units;  B,  241 
units;  C,  335  units;  D,  161  units;  E,  178  units;  F,  274 
units;  G,  337  units;  H,  284  units;  I,  147  units;  J,  277 
units ;  K,  215  units ;  L,  170  units ;  M,  197  units ;  N,  218 
units;  0,  479  units;  P,  155  units;  Q,  140  units;  E,  192 
units;  S,  479  units;  T,  292  units;  U,  278  units;  V,  479 
units;  W,  200  units;  X,  361  units. 

This  test  was  not  simply  one  of  quantity,  for  the 
school  in  which  it  was  taken  was  well  known  for  the 
high  quality  of  its  work  in  arithmetic,  Mr.  Nichols  being 
the  author  of  a  series  of  arithmetics. 

It  should  be  remarked  once  more  that,  while  this 
table  of  work  in  arithmetic  illustrates  well  the  point 
being  made,  the  comparisons  are  not  so  definite  as  in 


THE   LOSSES  OF   THE  SCHOOL.  35 

the  representation  of  the  Latin  class,  because  the  unit 
is  more  variable.  However,  it  is  probable  that  this 
fact  will  only  strengthen  the  showings  in  the  gram- 
mar-school tables;  because,  in  all  probability,  the 
stronger  pupils  covered  more  advanced  and  therefore 
more  difficult  work.  The  range  in  working  abili- 
ties would  therefore  be  greater  than  is  shown  in  this 
table. 

Very  few  persons,  even  teachers,  realize  that  there 
can  be  so  great  a  difference  in  pupils  in  a  well-graded 
school.  This  misconception  is  very  common,  and  arises 
from  the  fact  that  very  few  tests  have  ever  been  made 
to  determine  results  such  as  these.  There  is  scarcely 
a  so-called  well-graded  school  in  the  land  which,  given 
opportunity  to  depart  from  uniformity,  will  not  reach 
practically  the  same  showing  of  the  enormous  differen- 
tiation in  the  working  abilities  of  pupils;  and  this  is 
just  as  true  of  the  college  and  the  university  as  of  the 
public  schools.  If  schoolmen  would  only  cease  a  little 
from  their  profitless  ordinary  examination  of  children 
and  turn  the  investigation  on  their  own  methods,  they 
would  reach  some  surprising  results. 

A  STUDY  OF  COLLEGE  ENTRANCES. 

The  table  on  page  36  shows  the  proportion  of  the 
regular  students  entering  Harvard  College,  who  have 
come  from  the  public  schools  during  the  twenty-five 
years,  1871-1894. 

It  will  be  contended  that  Harvard  College  repre- 
sents, in  its  major  constituency,  only  a  section  of  the 
country.  Very  well;  it  represents  New  England,  and 
JSTew  England  is  supposed  by  many  people  to  represent 


36 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


YEAR. 

Total  entrances. 

From  public 
schools. 

Percentages  from 
public  schools. 

1871    

203 

70 

34  48 

1872  

183 

50 

27  32 

1873         .... 

227 

72 

31  71 

1874  

200 

54 

27  00 

1875  

258 

80 

31.00 

1876  

225 

51 

22.66 

1877 

239 

86 

35  98 

1878  

232 

80 

34  48 

1879  

245 

72 

29  38 

1880  

233 

69 

29.61 

1881  

230 

69 

30.00 

1882  

281 

82 

29.18 

1883  

268 

65 

24.25 

1884  

286 

63 

22.03 

1885     . 

264 

73 

27  65 

1886  

302 

96 

31.79 

1887  

310 

78 

25.16 

1888  

331 

94 

28.40 

1889  

352 

98 

27  56 

1890  -.. 

402 

95 

23  63 

1891  

463 

128 

27.64 

1892 

506 

135 

26  67 

1893         .... 

469 

142 

30  37 

1894  !  . 

470 

126 

26.95 

From  report  of  President  of  Harvard  University,  1894-'95,  p.  11. 
the  best  of  the  public-school  system.  Nowhere  else  is 
so  much  money  expended  for  schools;  nowhere  else  is 
the  course  of  study  so  long;  and  nowhere  else  have  the 
high  schools  lent  themselves  so  completely  to  college 
preparation.  The  result,  at  the  present  time,  is  that 
the  high  schools,  as  shown  by  this  table,  furnish  less 
than  twenty-seven  per  cent  of  those  admitted  to  Harvard 
College.  Notwithstanding  that  the  high  schools  of 
New  England  for  thirty  years  have  been,  more  and 
more,  making  of  themselves  fitting  schools,  their  con- 
tribution to  Harvard  College,  during  this  time  of  great- 
est endeavour,  has  been  declining.  The  average 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  37 

young  person  who  seeks  the  best  training  goes  where 
he  can  find  the  greatest  value.  Either  the  high  schools 
should  qualify  themselves  to  compete  with  private  in- 
stitutions, or  they  should  cease  to  bend  everything  to 
college  preparation. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL   (continued) — THE  HEALTH 
OF   SCHOOL   CHILDREN. 

IF  education  is  ever  to  aim  at  that  which  is  com- 
plete and  best,  it  must  comprehend  the  entire  child. 
Fundamental  in  this,  it  seems  right  to  expect  that  the 
product  of  the  school  shall  be  the  individual  blessed 
with  good  health.  To  that  end  school  provisions  and 
practices  must  not  be  simply  permissive  of  health,  but 
they  must  contribute  directly  to  its  realization.  Indeed, 
the  moment  the  school  begins  to  encroach  on  the  sacred- 
ness  of  this  domain,  just  then  its  usefulness  is  subject 
to  serious  question.  The  first  test,  then,  of  an  educa- 
tional system  is,  To  what  extent  does  it  confer  degrees 
of  conditioning  good  health? 

Certainly,  the  school  as  at  present  constituted  can 
not  be  held  responsible  for  the  entire  defective  physical 
condition  of  a  large  percentage  of  school  children;  but 
our  system  of  child  culture,  with  all  it  comprehends,  is 
responsible,  and  of  this  system  a  large  factor  is  the 
school. 

Now  what  is  the  condition  of  the  health  of  school 
children  under  the  influence  or  protection  of  our  present 
system  of  education?  Let  us  consider  first  the  eye, 
which  is  said  to  be  a  fair  type  of  the  general  price  which 
physical  health  must  pay  to  defective  culture. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  39 

Says  Kotelmann:  "I  have  examined  a  great  many 
Lapps,  Calmucks,  Patagonians,  Nubians,  Somalis,  and 
Singhalese,  but  I  have  never  found  a  single  near-sighted 
person  either  among  the  children  or  the  adults.  My- 
opia did  not  exist  in  New  Zealand  till  it  appeared  among 
the  natives  after  the  introduction  of  civilization/'  * 

In  contrast  with  this  remarkable  statement,  which 
is  abundantly  substantiated  by  other  investigations 
among  uncivilized  peoples,  how  worthy  to  command  our 
attention  are  the  findings  of  eminent  men  like  Cohn, 
Erismann,  Conrad,  Agnew,  Loring,  Derby,  Callan, 
Smith,  Allport,  Allen,  Swift,  and  others,  who  have 
made  expert  examination  of  the  physical  condition  of 
school  children! 

Probably  the  most  extensive  investigations  that 
have  been  made  are  those  reported  by  Dr.  Hermann 
Cohn  in  his  admirable  Hygiene  of  the  Eye.  The  ear- 
nest consideration  given  by  the  Germans  to  this  matter 
is  worthy  of  profound  respect.  Perhaps  no  discussion 
on  this  subject,  since  the  publication  of  Dr.  Cohn's,  has 
been  so  thoroughly  scientific. 

Dr.     Cohn's    original    investigations    covered    33 

*  "  Short-sightedness  is  one  of  the  evils  of  modern  civilization, 
and  in  its  distribution  depends  to  no  slight  extent  on  the  present 
modes  of  education.  Congenital  near-sightedness  is  probably 
quite  rare,  since  in  infants'  eyes  the  myopic  refraction  is  the 
exception."  (Reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  vol. 
v,  p.  87.) 

"  Myopia  is  seldom  congenital.  All  experts  remark  that  it  is 
rarely  found  in  children  of  less  than  five  years  of  age.  All  agree 
that  it  arises  from  too  steady  application  of  the  eyes  to  close 
objects,  especially  during  the  school  age."  (Dr.  Hermann  Cohn, 
in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xix,  p.  54.) 
5 


40 


AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


schools  enrolling  10,060  pupils  in  the  city  of  Breslau. 
He  found  an  average  of  19.2  per  cent  of  defective  sight 
among  the  pupils  of  the  town  school.  The  percentage 
of  increases  in  myopia  through  the  several  grades  is 
shown  by  the  following  table: 

Percentages  of  Myopia  in  the  City  of  Breslau.*    (Cohn.) 


SCHOOL. 

Pupils. 

GRADES  FROM  LOWEST  TO  HIGHEST. 

Aver- 
age per 
cent. 

8 

7 

6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

l 

Five  village  schools.  . 
Twenty  city  elemen- 
tary schools  

Twoadvancedschools 
for  girls    

1,486 
4,978 

834 
426 

502 
630 

532 
663 

1 
3 

16 
13 

27 
23 

31 
30 

2 
4 

12 
9 

25 

28 

48 
35 

3 
10 

19 
15 

59 
29 

65 

47 

1.4 
6.7 

7.7 
10.3 

[l9.7 
[26.2 

1 

2 

7 

8 
10 

12 
21 

17 
19 

6 
6 

25 

13 

19 

28 

T  wo  grammar  schools 

Realschule    (z.    heil. 
Geist)  

7 
11 

11 
14 

Realschule  (z.  Zwin- 
der)                   .    . 

Gymnasium     (Eliza- 
beth) 

Gymnasium  (Magda- 
lenen)  

Grade  1  is  the  highest  in  each  school  respectively. 
The  different  kinds  of  schools  have  not  a  continuous 
gradation,  as  in  this  country. 

Dr.  Cohn  says :  f  "  It  is  evident — 

"1.  In  village  schools  the  percentage  of  short-sight 
is  very  low,  while  in  the  town  school  the  number  of 

*  Reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  vol.  v,  p.  86. 

t  See  Cohn's  Hygiene  of  the  Eye,  wherein  is  given  a  valuable 
discussion  of  his  findings,  with  reports  of  the  examinations  of  the 
eyesight  of  fifty  thousand  school  children. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  41 

near-sighted  scholars  constantly  increases  with  the 
grade  of  the  school,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest. 

"  2.  In  every  school  the  number  of  near-sighted 
pupils  increases  from  class  to  class.  More  than  half  of 
the  highest  class  are  near-sighted. 

"  3.  There  is  an  increase  in  degree  of  myopia  from 
class  to  class  in  all  schools.  The  average  degree  differs 
but  slightly  for  the  two  sexes." 

Unfortunately,  examinations  of  this  kind  have  never 
been  made  in  the  United  States  in  so  thorough  and  sci- 
entific a  manner  as  is  done  in  European  countries.  A 
few  attempts  have  been  made,  which,  while  they  have 
not  followed  the  same  pupils  through  a  series  of  years, 
have  nevertheless  shown  that  the  same  general  results 
are  to  be  found  in  American  schools. 

Dr.  C.  R.  Agnew,*  of  New  York,  was  led  to  an  in- 
vestigation in  this  country  by  a  feeling  of  distrust  in  the 
applicability  of  Cohn's  conclusions  to  the  conditions  of 
American  schools.  He  thought  the  findings  of  Cohn 
might  be  largely  due  to  peculiarities  of  German  dietary, 
differences  in  school  buildings,  school  systems,  school 
hours,  and  other  factors.  With  competent  assistance  a 
careful  examination  was  made  of  the  eyes  of  630  school 
children  in  Cincinnati,  549  in  New  York,  and  300  in 
Brooklyn,  with  results  which  strikingly  confirmed  the 
conclusions  of  Dr.  Cohn. 

Drs.  Loring  and  Derby  examined  many  children  in 
the  New  York  schools  and  found  among  scholars  six 
to  eight  years  of  age  3.5  per  cent  of  myopia;  nine  to 
ten  years  of  age,  5  per  cent;  eleven  to  twelve  years  of 
age,  10  per  cent;  fifteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  15  per 

*  Medical  Review,  1877,  p.  34. 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


cent;  seventeen  to  eighteen  years  of  age,  20  per  cent; 
eighteen  to  nineteen  years  of  age,  25  per  cent;  and 
twenty  to  twenty-one  years  of  age,  26.8  per  cent.* 

Dr.  Ward  McLean,  referring  to  the  examinations 
made  by  Dr.  Edward  G.  Loring  and  Dr.  Peter  A.  Callan, 
of  New  York,  Dr.  Lucian  Howe,  of  Buffalo,  and  Dr. 
Hasket  Derby,  of  Boston,  says :  f 

"  The  uniform  drift  of  results  in  all  the  examina- 
tions here  referred  to,  and  relating  to  over  26,000  in- 
dividuals, may  be  regarded  as  sufficiently  establishing 
the  following  proposition: 

"  1.  That,  as  a  rule,  near-sightedness  originates  in 
school  life. 

"  2.  That  a  large  percentage  of  the  scholars  are 
thus  afflicted,  the  percentage  progressing  with  the  stage 
of  advancement  in  study. 

"  3.  That  near-sight  is  progressive  in  degree  accord- 
ing to  the  length  of  school  experience." 

Dr.  W.  F.  Smith,  in  reporting  an  examination  of 
school  children  in  Chicago,  presents  the  following 
table : 


EYES  EXAMINED. 

Age. 

Percentage  of  myopia. 

220  

6  to    8 

4.09 

230  

8  to  10 

5.65 

346             

10  to  12 

10.98 

814      

12  to  14 

12.89 

204    

14  to  15 

16.17 

242^1 
2^l  High  school.... 

48J 

15  to  16 
16  to  18 
18  to  19 
19  to  20 

17.76 
23.26 
25.31 

27.08 

*  Reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  vol.  v,  p.  87. 

f  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xii,  p.  74. 

1  Reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  vol.  v,  p.  87. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  43 

Dr.  Frank  Allport,  of  Minneapolis,  says :  * 

"  The  report  of  our  first  annual  examination  (1898) 
shows  that  25,696  children  have  been  tested,  of  whom 
8,166,  or  32  per  cent,  were  deemed  defective.  Among 
these,  6,451  eyes  were  found  possessing  a  vision  of 
|f,  or  a  little  worse  than  normal;  2,256  eyes  had  a 
vision  of  f#;  1,214  a  vision  of  f£;  1,130  a  vision  of  ff ; 
745  a  vision  of  -j^;  447  a  vision  of  ^;  and  43  eyes 
were  practically  blind;  4,472  children  could  not  use 
their  eyes  to  a  reasonable  extent  without  eye-tire,  head- 
ache, etc." 

An  examination  by  Dr.  H.  P.  Allen  f  of  4,700  pupils 
in  the  public  schools  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  reveals  1,175 
cases  of  defective  vision  (25  per  cent),  of  whom  936 
pupils  (20  per  cent)  were  afflicted  in  both  eyes.  The 
investigation  also  found  a  diminution  of  good  eyes  from 
80  per  cent  in  the  primary  grades  to  66.6  per  cent  in  the 
senior  class  of  the  high  school. 

Edgar  James  Swift  reports  J  the  results  of  a  valu- 
able examination  of  340  students  and  pupils  in  the 
normal  school  and  model  school  at  Stevens  Point, 
Wisconsin.  Speaking  of  the  257  students  in  the  nor- 
mal school,  he  says :  "  Of  the  37  students  with  nor- 
mal vision  of  -|$,  5  have  astigmatism  without  hyper- 
opia,  10  hyperopia  without  astigmatism,  and  14  have 
both  defects;  while  19  have  muscle  trouble  with  or 
without  other  difficulties,  and  only  3  have  no  evident 
defects." 


*  Educational  Review,  vol.  xiv,  pp.  150-159. 

f  Science,  vol.  xii,  p.  208. 

J  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  v,  p.  202. 


44 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


Vision  of  Three  Hundred  and  forty  Students  at 
Stevens  Point,  Wis. 


Interme- 

-T 

Normal 

Grammar 

diate  and 

V  ISION* 

dept. 

dept. 

primary 

dept. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

Per  cent. 

f#  or  better  

14.39 

21.42 

19.04 

fft  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  fg.  .  .  . 

51.75 

54.76 

57.14 

f$  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  f$.  .  .  . 

12.06 

9.52 

14.28 

£$  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  £  #  

7.78 

9.52 

2.38 

f$  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  §#  

2.72 

2.38 

.... 

T^%  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  f^  ... 

2.72 

2.38 

4.76 

3$&-  or  better  but  not  so  good  as  •$&  .  . 

4.28 

.... 

2.38 

Below  /0%  

4.28 

Dr.  Swift  further  says,  "  The  results  of  this  inves- 
tigation would  seem  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  about 
50  per  cent  of  all  pupils  have  at  least  one  eye  whose 
vision  is  not  normal." 

Compared  with  this  table  of  Dr.  Swift's,  how  sig- 
nificant is  the  statement  made  by  Dr.  P.  A.  Callan !  * 
"In  1874  I  examined  the  eyes  of  the  scholars  attend- 
ing two  negro  schools — over  500  pupils.  Their  ages 
ranged  from  five  to  nineteen  years.  One  of  these  schools 
showed  3.4  per  cent  of  near-sight,  the  other  only  1.2 
per  cent  near-sight." 

Says  Dr.  Donders,  the  eminent  Dutch  oculist: 

"  I  maintain  then,  without  hesitation,  that  the 
short-sighted  eye  is  the  diseased  eye. 

"  It  is  then  in  youth  that  injurious  exciting  influ- 
ences must  be  most  carefully  guarded  against. 


*  Catholic  World,  vol.  xl,  p.  559. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  45 

"  Progressive  short-sight  is  in  every  case  ominous 
of  evil  for  the  future. 

"Not  unfrequently  at  the  age  of  fifty  or  sixty,  if 
not  earlier,  the  power  of  sight,  either  from  detachment 
of  the  retina,  from  haemorrhage,  or,  lastly  from  atrophy 
and  degeneration  of  the  yellow  spot,  is  irretrievably 
lost/' 

Remarks  the  reference  Hand-Book  of  the  Medical 
Sciences :  * 

"  There  are  now  on  record  the  figures  obtained  from 
over  150,000  scholars.  The  results  show  that  myopia 
increases  steadily  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  classes, 
both  in  percentage  and  in  the  average  of  its  degree. 
The  numerous  reports  of  school  examinations  by  others 
confirm,  without  exception,  Cohn's  results.  They  all 
show  a  steady  increase  in  myopia  on  advancing  from 
grade  to  grade.  In  this  country,  examinations  have 
not  been  made  so  extensively  as  in  Germany;  but,  as 
far  as  they  go,  they  show  a  similar  increase  in  myopia 
with  advancing  education." 

Says  the  Northwestern  Monthly :  f 

"  There  is  a  fixed  conviction  that  the  increase  of 
near-sightedness  during  school  life  is  due  to  the  con- 
ditions of  school  life.  After  allowing  for  the  influence 
of  all  other  factors,  there  is  undoubtedly  much  to  be 
charged  against  the  account  of  school  education." 

"  There  seems  to  be  no  longer  room,"  remarks  the 
editor  of  the  Journal  of  Education,!  "  to  question  the 
statement  that  near-sightedness  increases  alarmingly 

*  Vol.  v,  p.  86. 

f  Vol.  viii,  p.  36. 

j  Journal  of  Education,  November  30, 1899. 


46  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

with  school  children.  It  should  cease  to  be  true.  The 
lifetime  affliction  of  near-sightedness  is  not  to  be  com- 
pensated by  any  mental  discipline  the  schools  can  ever 
give." 

Ingalls  declares  that  "it  is  a  waste  of  time  to 
send  a  child  to  school  when  his  eyes  are  not  in  proper 
condition  to  do  the  work  assigned.  This  language  is 
not  one  whit  too  strong.  We  have  often  felt  the  pro- 
foundest  pity  for  children  who,  handicapped  by  any 
ocular  defect,  have  been  goaded  by  teacher,  school- 
mates, and  parents  into  nervous  collapse."  * 

Surely  the  remedy,  as  Callan  so  well  puts  it,  must 
be  something  better  than  the  "  good  old  times  when  a 
boy  complained  of  not  seeing,  and  then  his  parents 
whipped  him,  and  the  master  whipped  him,  and  then 
he  saw." 

Granted  the  excessive  amount  of  near-sightedness 
which  too  often  attends  the  getting  of  an  education, 
How  can  we  lessen  the  price  which  must  be  paid?  Is 
not  this  unfortunate  wreckage  the  result  of  the  general 
conditions  of  life  as  well  as  of  the  school? 

Undoubtedly  the  conditions  of  the  home  and  of  mod- 
ern life  are  causes  to  a  considerable  degree  of  the 
defective  vision  of  school  children;  but,  in  the  light  of 
the  testimony  given,  the  school  can  not  escape  respon- 
sibility for  its  part.  Besides,  it  must  forever  be  the 
mission  of  the  school  to  bring  about  conditions  favour- 
able to  good  health,  in  the  home  and  elsewhere. 

In  referring  to  the  repeated  examinations  made  by 

*  The  American  Year-Book  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  1897, 
p.  893. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  47 

Florchutz  at  Coburg,  Dr.  Cohn  remarks,  "  The  in- 
vestigations of  this  last  are  of  the  highest  interest,  be- 
cause they  establish  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  myopics 
in  the  newly  built  school  palaces."  This  certainly  con- 
firms the  inference  that  the  school  building  is  respon- 
sible for  much  of  the  near-sightedness  of  children  and 
adults.  But  Dr.  Cohn's  observation  does  not  go  far 
enough,  for  it  does  not  include  the  unfortunate  results  of 
unhygienic  methods  of  instruction,  hours  of  study,  order 
of  exercises,  and  other  conditioning  factors.  In  what 
ways  the  school  of  the  twentieth  century  may  do  some- 
thing toward  the  solution  of  this  question  will  be  taken 
up  later  on  in  our  Construction  of  the  School  of  Good 
Health.  The  first  thing,  however,  in  the  solution  of 
the  problem  is  to  face  it;  and  this  the  schoolmen 
have  never  jet  done  in  any  very  earnest  and  scientific 
manner. 

As  has  already  been  remarked,  the  schools  can  not 
be  held  accountable  for  the  causation  of  all  the  physical 
impairment  in  their  constituency;  but  they  are  respon- 
sible for  permitting  much  of  it  to  continue.  It  must 
be  the  first  mission  of  the  school  to  promote  health.  If 
this  can  not  be  done  in  the  school  as  at  present  organ- 
ized, then  we  must  reorganize.  It  would  be  better  to 
go  back  to  the  child  culture  of  Plato's  Eepublic  than 
to  ask  the  child  to  lay  down  his  good  health  as  the  price 
of  a  liberal  education.  If  education  is  to  mean  anything 
at  all  it  must  mean  everything.  It  must  comprehend 
the  whole  man;  and  the  whole  man  is  built  fundamen- 
tally on  what  he  is  physically. 

Undoubtedly  much  of  the  child's  condition  is  due  to 
his  home  environment;  but  even  in  this  field  it  is  the 


48  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

mission  of  the  school  to  suggest  as  much  in  the  line  of 
physical  improvement  as  has  been  deemed  its  part  in 
the  intellectual.  As  far  as  concerns  the  child's  inter- 
ests, the  school  and  the  home  must  be  co-ordinated; 
and  for  this  the  home  must  look  to  the  school  for  lead- 
ership. Education,  then,  must  take  on  a  much  higher 
significance  than  is  the  case  in  the  present.  Great  prob- 
lems are  to  be  solved,  and  the  solution  must  come 
largely  from  the  school.  When  we  consider  the  supe- 
rior physical  childhood  of  Spartan  education,  of  sav- 
agery, or  even  of  Mormonism,  the  question  presents 
itself,  What  has  modern  civilization  to  offer  to  help 
solve  the  problem  of  better  health  for  the  school  chil- 
dren of  America? 

There  is  also  a  very  large  amount  of  hypermetropia 
in  the  schools.  Conrad  at  Konigsberg  (47.47  per  cent 
of  3,066  eyes  examined),  Kotelmann  at  Wandsbeck 
(48.23  per  cent  out  of  566  eyes),  and  Erismann  at  St. 
Petersburg  (67.8  per  cent),  have  found  a  large  percent- 
age of  far-sightedness  *  among  younger  school  children ; 
but  this  is  not  a  matter  of  any  great  concern,  as  the 
natural  condition  of  young  eyes  is  hypermetropic.  In- 
deed, it  is  better  to  find  a  large  percentage  of  hyper- 
metropia in  a  school  than  emmetropia  (normal  condi- 
tion), owing  to  the  correction  that  comes  later  on. 

SPINAL  CURVATURE. 

During  the  period  of  school  life  the  bones  of  the 
body  are  soft  and  yield  themselves  readily  to  the  in- 
fluences of  posture  and  habit,  thus  giving  opportunity 

*  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  p.  241. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  49 

for  the  correction  of  body  defects  under  proper  train- 
ing, or  for  the  beginning  and  augmentation  of  mal- 
formations which  may  not  show  much  in  the  present, 
but  will  be  a  source  of  distress  and  unhappiness  in 
later  life.  If  a  boy's  shoulder  can  be  raised  or  low- 
ered three  inches  under  two  or  three  months  of  care- 
ful training  in  the  school,  how  responsible  is  the  school 
for  failure  to  recognise  and  to  correct  the  spinal  curva- 
ture, which  is  so  largely  the  result  of  unhygienic  furni- 
ture, unfortunate  hours  of  study  and  habits  of  sitting, 
rigid  discipline,  and  methods  of  instruction !  A  scien- 
tific examination  will  reveal  a  large  amount  of  curva- 
ture of  the  spine  which  in  some  way  has  escaped  detec- 
tion— largely,  perhaps,  because  the  person  so  afflicted 
is  not  himself  conscious  of  this  beginning  and  unprom- 
ising difficulty. 

Dr.  Stuart  H.  Kowe,  in  his  excellent  work  on  The 
Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  presents  the  following 
figures  *  showing  the  number  of  cases  per  thousand  of 
a  form  of  spinal  curvature  (scoliosis)  found  in  school 
children  of  German  schools  by  Eulenberg: 

From  birth  to  2  years 5  cases. 

"       2  years  to    3  years 21     " 


"   3  ' 

«  to  4  "  

9 

« 

«   4  * 

<  to  5  "   

10 

M 

"   5  ' 

<  to  6  "  

33 

tt 

t*         s\ 

o 

to  7  "  

216 

M 

"   7 

to  10  "    .  .  .  . 

564 

„ 

"  10 

to  14  "    .  . 

.  .  107 

M 

"  14 

to  20  "  

28 

U 

"  20 

to  30  "  

7 

H 

*  Rowe's  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  p.  154. 


50 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


Says  Dr.  Howe,  "It  will  thus  be  seen  that  920  of 
the  cases  out  of  the  thousand  occur  between  the  ages 
of  six  and  fourteen,  a  tremendous  evidence  of  the  un- 
hygienic treatment  of  children  by  the  school." 

The  following  representative  table,*  showing  cases 
and  percentages  of  spinal  curvature  among  school  chil- 
dren as  found  by  Dr.  Krug,  will  be  of  interest: 

Spinal  Curvature.    (Krug.) 


AGE. 

Boys  examined. 

Cases. 

Percentages. 

8-  9* 

86 

10 

11.5 

10-lOf  

102 

17 

16.5 

11-llf  

102 

29 

28.0 

12-12f  

214 

59 

27.5 

13-131 

120 

43 

35.0 

14_16f  

71 

23 

32.5 

Dr.  Kotelmann,  in  his  discussion  of  this  subject, 
says :  f  "  Many  facts  point  rather  to  the  conclusion  that 
most  scolioses  are  due  to  certain  conditions  of  school 
life.  Schildbach  says  directly  from  his  own  wide  expe- 
riences, '  By  far  the  greater  number  of  scolioses  origi- 
nate during  the  school  period/  Klopsch  reaches  the 
same  conclusion — namely,  that  the  majority  of  mal- 
formations are  produced  between  the  tenth  and  four- 
teenth years  of  life.  Guillaume  found,  among  731 
pupils  in  Neufchatel,  218  with  incipient  scoliosis.  In 
Nuremberg,  15  per  cent  of  the  school  population  were 
afflicted  with  spinal  curvature,  and  in  Munich  about 
7  per  cent  of  2,128  school  children.  In  Dresden,  344, 
or  24  per  cent  of  1,418  pupils  in  the  common  schools 


*  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  p.  312. 
f  Ibid.,  p.  311. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  51 

'between  the  ages  of  eight  and  seventeen,  were  found 
by  Krug  to  have  scoliosis." 

"  The  sitting  posture,  at  best,  is  not  a  safe  one  for 
children  and  delicate  individuals  to  occupy  continu- 
ously. The  influence  of  gravitation,  however,  applied 
to  the  spinal  column,  is  one  which  it  is  difficult  for  so 
movable  a  structure  to  resist,  so  that  the  tendency  to 
the  production  of  abnormal  curves  is  always  great,  and 
increasingly  so  the  longer  the  posture  obtains.*7  * 

"  More  and  more,"  says  Baginsky,f  "  does  the  opin- 
ion gain  ground,  particularly  among  surgeons,  as  the 
result  of  their  anatomical  and  physiological  studies  and 
practical  observations,  that  the  origin  of  the  most 
serious  of  all  curvatures  of  the  spine — the  lateral  curve 
— is  due,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  to  the  influences 
of  school  life  on  youthful  organisms." 

GENERAL  PHYSICAL  DEBILITY. 
The  effects  of  bad  posture  in  school  and  work  under 
unfortunate  conditions,  of  long  hours  and  outside  study, 
of  unhygienic  methods  of  instruction,  of  failure  to  rec- 
ognise the  physiological  needs  of  pupils  at  periods  and 
times  of  special  stress,  undoubtedly  tend  to  encourage 
physical  degeneracy  where  the  school  should  stand  for 
health  and  strength.  This  gives  rise  not  only  to  the 
large  amount  of  defective  vision  and  spinal  curvature 
already  considered,  but  also  to  lung  weaknesses  and 
heart  irregularity,  to  nervous  and  digestive  diseases, 
and  many  other  incipient  stages  of  physical  deteriora- 

*  Mosher.    Educational  Review,  vol.  iv,  p.  346. 
f  Deutsche  Medizin.  Zeitung,  1888,  p.  529. 


52  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

tion.  Education  can  never  be  regarded  as  truly  scien- 
tific until  it  guarantees  to  every  child  better  health  in 
consequence  of  his  attendance  upon  the  school.  Has 
the  pursuit  of  an  education  realized  this  in  the  past? 

In  an  examination  of  the  schools  of  the  better  classes 
in  Copenhagen  in  1881,  Dr.  Hertel  *  found  31  per  cent 
of  3,141  boys  and  39  per  cent  of  1,211  girls  suffering 
from  chronic  debilitating  diseases,  the  acute  diseases 
not  being  taken  into  consideration,  the  highest  percent- 
age being  reached  at  twelve  years  of  age. 

A  royal  commission  made  an  investigation  of  the 
schools  of  Denmark  in  1882  and  found  f  29  per  cent  of 
17,595  boys  and  41  per  cent  of  11,646  girls  to  be  in 
chronic  ill  health,  the  highest  percentage  (51)  being 
reached  at  the  age  of  thirteen. 

About  the  same  time  a  commission  was  appointed 
to  make  a  similar  examination  of  health  conditions  in 
the  schools  of  Sweden,  with  results  as  follows :  J  Of 
11,210  boys  in  the  higher  common  schools,  44.8  per 
cent  were  found  to  be  sickly,  the  highest  percentage 
(50.2)  being  in  the  Latin  section.  The  proportion  of 
particular  complaints  was:  Headache,  13.5  per  cent; 
anasmia,  12.7  per  cent;  nose  bleed,  6.2  per  cent;  loss 
of  appetite,  3.2  per  cent;  scrofula,  2.7  per  cent;  nerv- 
ousness, 2  per  cent;  curvature  of  the  spine,  1.5  per 
cent;  near-sightedness,  15.2  per  cent;  and  unspecified, 
9.9  per  cent.  In  examining  3,072  pupils  of  the  higher 
schools  for  girls,  the  commission  found  65.7  per  cent 
to  be  suffering  from  more  or  less  chronic  diseases  or 

*  Maine  State  Board  of  Health  Report,  1892,  p.  91. 
flbid.  Jlbid.,  pp.  92,  93. 


THE  LOSSES  OP  THE  SCHOOL.  53 

deviations  from  health,  with  percentages  as  follows: 
Anaemia,  36.6;  nose  bleed,  6.8;  nervousness,  6.5;  defi- 
cient appetite,  12;  short-sightedness,  11.5;  spinal  curva- 
ture, 10.8;  scrofula,  5,  etc. 

Dr.  James  Crichton-Browne,  in  an  examination  of 
187  high-school  girls,  well  fed  and  clad  and  cared  for, 
and  ranging  from  ten  to  seventeen  years  of  age,  found 
as  many  as  137  complained  of  headaches,  which  in  65 
instances  occurred  occasionally,  in  48  frequently,  and 
in  24  habitually.  In  his  report  *  he  says :  "  Two  thirds 
of  high-school  girls  will  attest  that  the  hardest  part  of 
their  work — preparation,  which  involves  the  opening 
of  new  ground,  and  advance  on  what  has  been  already 
learned,  and  effort  in  surmounting  obstacles — has  to  be 
performed  in  the  evening,  when  they  are  already  worn 
out,  at  the  very  time  when,  in  the  cycle  of  daily  life, 
their  brains  are  least  capable  of  exertion.  And  no 
inconsiderable  number  of  high-school  girls  will  at- 
test that  this  arduous  work  of  preparation  is  often 
carried  on  until  ten.,  sometimes  even  eleven  o'clock  at 
night." 

Remarks  Sir  Richard  Owen :  "  Children  have  no 
business  with  headache  at  all ;  and,  if  you  find  that  these 
occur  frequently  in  any  school,  you  may  depend  on  it 
there  is  something  wrong  there." 

A  special  committee  appointed  in  1881  by  the  Board 
of  Education  of  the  city  of  Cleveland  to  make  some 
investigations  concerning  the  health  of  the  graduates 
and  pupils  of  the  high  schools  of  that  city,  made  a  very 
suggestive  report. 

*  Sex  in  Education.    Educational  Review,  vol.  iv,  p.  164. 


54  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Health  Record  of  Forty  Boys  who  left  the  High  School,  1880-81* 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS. 

When  entered. 

At  school. 

After  leaving. 

Good  

85  per  cent. 

45     per  cent 

70  per  cent 

Fair  

10       " 

17.5      " 

24       " 

Rather  poor 

5       " 

5         " 

Poor  

10         " 

5       " 

Quite  poor  

15         " 

Very  poor  .  . 

7.5      " 

While  in  school  the  health  of  50  per  cent  of  the 
boys  was  not  so  good;  23  per  cent  lost  appetite;  10  per 
cent  lost  sleep;  45  per  cent  had  headache;  23  per  cent 
had  weak  eyes;  23  per  cent  left  school  wholly  or  in  part 
011  account  of  ill  health. 

Health  Record  of  Eighty-five  Girls  who  left  the  High  School  in 
1880-81,  and  Eleven  wfio  left  in  1879-80— Ninety-six  in  all.\ 


HEALTH  CONDITIONS. 

When  entered. 

At  school. 

After  leaving. 

Good 

73  per  cent. 

17  per  cent. 

35  per  cent. 

Fair          

22       " 

9       " 

Rather  poor  
Poor 

5       " 

7       " 
5       " 

12 
18 

12 

1 

48       " 

7 

Two  girls  died  while  members  of  the  school,  account- 
ing for  the  loss  of  two  per  cent  in  the  last  and  next  to 
the  last  columns. 

While  at  school,  the  health  of  80  per  cent  of  the 
girls  was  not  good;  46  per  cent  lost  appetite;  27  per  cent 
suffered  from  sleeplessness;  72  per  cent  had  headache; 


*  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  cv,  p.  486. 
f  Ibid. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  55 

52  per  cent  had  backache  or  sideache;  44  per  cent  had 
nervous  troubles;  75  per  cent  left  wholly  or  in  part  on 
account  of  ill  health;  52  per  cent  complained  of  stair- 
climbing;  36  per  cent  were  troubled  with  weak  eyes. 

Says  Eowe :  *  "  Tuberculosis,  rickets,  bronchitis,  ca- 
tarrh, and  headaches  are  aggravated,  if  not  brought  on, 
by  impure  air ;  chorea,  by  fatigue  of  the  muscles ;  spinal 
diseases,  by  bad  posture  in  sitting  or  in  writing;  indi- 
gestion and  constipation,  by  too  much  restraint  and 
sedentary  habits;  bad  eyes,  by  bad  positions  of  books, 
paper  or  light;  nervousness,  by  too  much  pressure, 
too  much  worry,  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  by 
nervousness  in  those  about  them,  where  it  is  possible 
that  the  teacher  is  at  fault." 

Dr.  Young,  in  his  exceptionally  valuable  report, 
remarks  :  f  "  There  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  the  faulty 
sanitary  conditions  of  many  school  buildings  and  unwise 
methods  of  teaching  have  much  to  do  with  laying  the 
foundations  of  future  disease.  .  .  .  Digestive  diseases, 
initiated  in  the  school,  often  render  the  individual  an 
invalid  or  a  semi-invalid  for  life.  The  combination  of 
such  influences  as  bad  air,  overheating,  stooping  posi- 
tion and  pressure  upon  the  abdominal  regions,  and 
mental  strain,  are  entirely  capable  of  introducing  these 
troubles/' 

Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall  also  adds  testimony:  J  "When 
a  child  begins  to  go  to  school  the  change  of  his  en- 
vironment is  very  great.  Instead  of  constant  activity, 

*  Rowe's  Physical  Nature  of  the  Child,  p.  89. 
f  Maine  State  Board  of  Health  Report,  p.  99. 
J  Report  of  Proceedings  Department  of  Superintendence,  189?, 
p.  163. 

6 


56  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

he  must  now  sit  still  and  keep  still;  instead  of  moving 
his  hands  and  arms  freely,  the  strain  of  effort  is  now 
focussed  upon  the  very  few  tiny,  pen-wagging  muscles. 
The  eyes,  instead  of  moving  freely,  are  confined  in  the 
zigzag  treadmill  of  the  printed  line.  It  is  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  the  child  so  commonly  loses  weight  on 
first  entering  school;  that  short-sightedness  and  other 
eye  troubles  increase  almost  regularly  through  the 
school  period ;  that  headaches,  anaemia,  scoliosis,  defects 
in  development  if  not  signs  of  disease,  appear  in  the 
stomach,  heart,  and  lungs,  and  especially  in  the  nervous 
system,  the  gradual  deterioration  of  which  is  hard  to 
recognise." 

Says  Dr.  Agnew,  in  concluding  his  excellent  article 
in  the  New  York  Medical  Eecord :  *  "It  seems  to  me 
that  the  very  etymology  of  the  word  education  enforces 
the  idea  that  the  child  is  to  grow  better  and  stronger  up 
through  his  life,  and  that  by  proper  regulation  of  his 
diets  and  management  at  home,  by  properly  lighted 
school  rooms  and  properly  constructed  desks,  and  a  bet- 
ter regulation  of  his  hours  of  study,  he  should  reach 
a  much  higher  type  of  life  when  he  has  reached  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years  than  when  he  has  just  been  taken  in 
hand  with  a  view  of  giving  him  book  knowledge.  We  cer- 
tainly should  not  damage  the  eye  in  the  process  of  edu- 
cation, and  I  believe  that  the  damage  done  the  eye  is 
to  be  taken  as  an  index  of  that  which  is  done  to  other 
organs  of  the  body." 

There  are  many  other  phases  of  the  question  of  the 
effects  of  school  life  on  the  physical  health  of  the  child, 

*  New  York  Medical  Record,  1877,  p.  36. 


THE  LOSSES  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  57 

which  demand  serious  attention ;  but  the  data  and  argu- 
ments already  presented  will  abundantly  substantiate 
the  statement  that  our  present  methods  of  education 
are  too  expensive.  Health  is  a  prime  requisite  in  the 
school.  It  is  the  foundation  on  which  everything  else 
must  be  built. 

In  the  light  of  this  discussion,  does  it  not  seem  that 
a  school  should  be  constructed  that  would  in  no  way  rob 
man  of  any  of  his  natural  glory?  There  is  absolutely 
nothing  in  the  legitimate  field  of  intellectual  activities 
that  need  deteriorate  physical  health.  Eemove  the  in- 
centives to  cram  and  overtension,  give  the  school  chil- 
dren pure  air,  freedom  of  movement,  good  food,  and 
plenty  of  sleep,  vitalize  their  work  by  living  interest, 
and  it  is  simply  remarkable  how  much  mental  activity 
the  brain  will  sustain  and  how  such  activity  will  react  in 
producing  health.  The  longevity  of  our  great  scien- 
tists and  literary  men  abundantly  shows  this.  There 
is  no  reason  whatever  why  the  school  should  bring  loss 
to  the  child. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FUNDAMENTALS   IN   PLANNING  A   SCHOOL. 

"  Thrice  happy  is  the  country  child,  or  the  one  who  can  spend 
part  of  his  young  life  among  living  things  near  to  Nature's  heart. 
How  blessed  is  the  little  toddling  thing  who  can  lie  flat  in  the 
sunshine  and  drink  in  the  beauty  of  the  '  green  things  growing.' 
who  can  live  among  other  little  animals — his  brothers  in  feathers 
and  fur — who  can  put  his  hand  in  that  of  dear  Mother  Nature  and 
learn  his  first  baby  lessons  without  any  meddlesome  middleman ! " 
(Kate  Douglas  Wiggin.) 

IN  the  planning  of  an  ideal  school  there  are  certain 
fundamentals  which  must  be  conserved. 

Good  Health. — Basic  to  every  other  consideration, 
good  health  must  be  recognised  as  the  essential  condi- 
tion and  fundamental  aim  of  all  education.  The  value, 
therefore,  of  every  contributing  factor — the  school 
building,  the  teacher,  the  studies,  the  programme  of  ex- 
ercises, and  the  methods  of  instruction — is  determined 
by  the  degree  it  promotes  health  of  body,  mind,  and 
soul.  That  education  in  the  past  has  been  unnaturally 
expensive  in  this  particular  has  been  the  shame  of  the 
school  room ;  that  it  can  and  must  reach  higher  fruition 
in  the  ascent  of  man  is  the  responsible  charge  of  civili- 
zation. 

Good  health  calls  for  pure  air,  purifying  sunshine, 
good  companionship,  correction  of  past  weaknesses, 
adequate  illumination,  proper  nutrition,  regular  habits, 
58 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.      59 

correct  posture,  suitable  studies,  good  tools,  healthful 
mental  stimuli,  and  normal  procedure  in  work.  As 
President  Hall  has  so  well  put  it,  "  Health  is  whole- 
ness or  holiness  itself  in  its  highest  aspect." 

The  Value  of  Sunshine  and  Light. — With  all  a 
child's  love  for  the  outer  world  of  beauty  and  his  in- 
stinct for  sunshine  and  light,  it  is  no  wonder  that  he  is 
glad  when  the  intermission  or  vacation  is  at  hand.  It 
is  taken  for  granted  that  the  growing  plant  must  be 
placed  in  the  window  for  full  appropriation  of  the  light ; 
but  no  one  thinks  of  the  similar  needs  and  soul-crav- 
ings of  the  human  plant.  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  in 
his  own  glorious  health,  never  tires  of  speaking  of  the 
importance  of  the  sun-bath,  and,  with  great  delight, 
quotes  Dr.  Everett  in  speaking  of  going  outdoors  as 
"  coming  in,"  and  of  coming  indoors  as  "  going  out," 
because  of  relations  to  the  great  world  of  Nature  and 
sunshine.  Are  our  school  rooms  flooded  with  light  as 
they  should  be?  Is  every  room  so  situated  as  to  re- 
ceive the  daily  purification  of  direct  sunshine  ?  Is  there 
realization  that  a  disease  germ  can  not  live  in  the  light 
of  the  sun?  Are  the  school  grounds  ample  for  the 
gathering  of  as  many  young  colts  as  there  are  children ; 
and  are  the  children  turned  loose  to  romp  and  play  in 
the  bath  of  the  sun;  or  is  theirs  the  benighted  portion 
of  the  modern  recess  in  a  darkened  and  air-polluted 
room?  Sunshine  is  a  prime  requisite  in  the  culture 
of  children.  The  healthiest  man  or  woman  is  the  one 
who  lives  most  in  the  sunshine;  and  the  school  will 
always  be  defective  until  it  presents  more  and  more  of 
the  conditions  of  normal  life.  An  old  Italian  proverb 
says,  "  Where  the  sun  does  not  go  the  doctor  goes." 


60  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

The  Love  for  Nature. — Nature  is  the  mother  of  all 
life,  and  in  her  garden  the  healthiest  plants  are  to  be 
grown.  Every  child  is  a  born  naturalist.  His  eyes  are 
open  to  the  glory  of  the  stars,  the  beauty  of  flowers, 
the  charm  of  life,  and  his  ears  to  the  music  of  a  world 
of  song.  His  innate  interests  need  little  to  awaken 
them  into  a  world  of  activity  and  to  link  him  to  that 
which  will  lift  him  up  through  Nature  to  Nature's 
God;  but,  too  often,  he  leaves  all  this  to  enter  the  for- 
mal school,  where  the  curtains  are  gradually  drawn  over 
the  windows  of  his  soul.  He  exchanges  the  great  fruit- 
ful, illimitable  universe,  where  the  teacher  could  have 
led  him  to  soul  expansion  and  the  discovery  of  truth, 
for  a  box  twelve  feet  by  twenty-six  by  thirty-two,  where 
his  soul  takes  its  shape  from  the  limited  surroundings, 
and  he  goes  forth  in  time  to  wear  goggles  because  he 
can  not  look  at  the  light.  Is  there  no  education  better 
than  that  of  the  box?  Is  it  necessary  that  the  child 
shall  surrender  all  his  natural  instincts,  so  promising 
and  satisfying,  for  the  artificial  life  of  the  average 
school?  Are  man's  best  interests  conserved  by  making 
him  in  toto  a  sitting  animal,  with  his  nose  in  a  book 
and  with  the  muscles  of  the  neck  lengthened  in  order 
that  he  may  bend  his  head  over  a  table  ?  Shall  we  not 
rather  look  forward  to  the  nobler  school  of  the  great 
outer  world,  where  Nature  is  the  basic  study  for  the 
school's  purposes,  and  brings  the  child's  work  into  rela- 
tion with  the  living  interests  of  the  soul  ?  To  know  Na- 
ture, what  an  inestimable  privilege !  To  love  Nature, 
how  full  of  inspiration  and  delight!  To  be  in  accord 
with  Nature,  how  safe  the  child  for  all  the  purposes  of 
life  and  of  heaven! 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   <;i 

How  beautifully  sings  Longfellow  of  the  illimitable 
field  of  Nature  and  her  effective  place  in  the  education 
of  a  child: 

"  And  Nature,  the  old  nurse,  took 

The  child  upon  her  knee, 
Saying,  '  Here's  a  story-book 
Thy  Father  has  written  for  thee. 

"  '  Come,  wander  with  me,'  she  said, 

*  Into  regions  yet  untrod ; 
And  read  what  is  still  unread, 
In  the  manuscript  of  God.' 

"  And  he  wandered  away  and  away 

With  Nature,  the  dear  old  nurse, 
Who  sang  to  him,  night  and  day, 
The  rhymes  of  the  universe. 

"  And  whenever  the  way  seemed  long, 

Or  his  heart  began  to  fail, 
She  would  sing  a  more  wonderful  song, 
Or  tell  a  more  marvellous  tale." 

Inspiration. — The  greatest  thing  a  child  ever  gets 
in  the  school  or  the  adult  in  the  college  is  not  subject- 
matter,  but  heart  contact  with  great  personality.  To 
be  given  the  key  of  interest  and  to  be  inspired  to  great 
deeds  is  the  summum  bonum  of  all  the  pupil  can  get 
from  the  teacher.  There  is  more  education  in  a  single 
hour  in  the  imparted  touch  from  a  great  soul  than  in 
years  of  mechanical  school-room  grind.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  long  hours  of  the  formal  school  or  of  what 
studies,  but  with  whom.  The  student,  be  he  man  or 
child,  who  has  been  lifted  to  the  heroics  of  inspiration 
and  purpose,  possesses  the  fundamentals  of  his  educa- 
tion, to  which  everything  else  is  accessory.  Uplift, 


62  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

vision,  and  inspiration — these  are  the  master-keys 
which  unlock  the  doors  of  all  progress  and  delight. 

The  Play  Instincts. — There  is  that  in  the  heart  of 
the  child  which  makes  work  easy  when  it  is  related 
to  play.  There  is  little  educative  value  in  drudgery. 
The  child  has  a  divine  right  to  a  life  of  joy,  to  an 
abundance  of  time  for  play,  to  the  doing  of  the  work  of 
the  school  in  ways  in  accord  with  his  own  stages  of  life, 
and  to  express  his  work  in  exercises  of  living  interest. 
Requirement,  therefore,  must  give  way  to  spontaneity; 
fatalism,  to  choice;  drudgery,  to  play;  execution  of 
tasks,  to  individual  initiative.  Under  the  inspiration  of 
the  right  teacher,  and  with  proper  suggestion,  the 
child's  own  innate  interests  are  all-sufficient  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  work. 

Individuality. — Individuality  is  the  most  precious 
thing  among  the  fruits  of  the  world.  Society  is  rich 
from  the  fact  that  people  are  not  all  alike.  Science, 
industry,  art,  and  literature  all  reach  their  illimitable 
creations  through  this  same  cardinal  factor,  which 
has  been  fundamental  in  the  evolution  of  a  world  of 
beauty  and  achievement.  That  the  child  learns  much 
from  others  is  pre-eminently  true ;  that  his  greatest  de- 
velopment is  reached  through  giving  himself  for  others 
is  just  as  true;  but  both  of  these  have  their  highest 
realization  in  that  development  of  his  individuality 
which  enables  him  to  appropriate  most  for  his  own 
culture,  and  to  give  that  which  others  have  not.  He 
may  gain  from  others,  but  it  must  be  by  his  own  imi- 
tation. He  may  be  directed  by  his  teachers,  but  it 
must  be  by  suggestion.  Individuality,  with  all  it  may 
contain,  is  the  precious  thing  in  his  personal  enrich- 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   63 

ment  of  the  world;  and,  therefore,  its  culture  is  of 
first  importance.  This  is  the  height  of  all  education; 
the  most  natural  and  yet  the  most  difficult.  Its  con- 
servation is  the  lever  which  must  overturn  the  foun- 
dations of  the  formal  school.  Individuality  must  be 
king. 

Normal  Growth. — The  healthy  plant  grows  by  that 
which  it  appropriates  and  makes  its  own.  Any  attempt 
to  force  it  can  only  result  in  ultimate  weakness.  Firm- 
ness and  endurance  come  also  by  self-made  victory.  No 
strong  character  ever  yet  was  made  by  coddling.  The 
whole  realm  of  divine  economy  is  built  fundamentally 
on  the  principle  that  growth  is  the  result  of  self-appro- 
priation, and  that  strength  is  the  product  of  struggle. 
The  reward  is  "  to  him  that  overcometh."  In  the  same 
way  the  child  in  the  school  must  do  his  own  work. 
There  is  little  virtue  in  an  exercise  where  the  steps  are 
all  marked  out  for  him.  He  must  be  given  opportunity 
for  choice,  and  to  find  his  own  way  to  results.  He  also 
must  be  an  investigator  and  a  creator.  The  best  help 
is  self-help.  To  be  well  helped,  the  child  must  be  taught 
to  help  himself.  This  emphasizes  the  necessity  for 
individual  opportunity.  No  two  children  are  exactly 
alike.  Each  must  have  that  which  is  best  for  his  own 
growth. 

Repetition  of  the  History  of  the  Race. — That  the  child 
repeats  the  history  of  the  race  is  undoubtedly  true  in 
the  normal  individual.  This  is  evidenced  in  his  natural 
interests,  in  his  plays,  and  in  that  which  seems  to  be 
best  for  his  own  growth  and  development.  What,  then, 
are  the  elements  which  should  be  incorporated  in  a 
scheme  of  consistent  education? 


64  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

1.  Love  for  Nature. — Nature  is  the  mother  of  all 
life,  and  it  is  in  her  cradle  that  the  infant  finds  his 
growing  strength   and   the   convalescent   is   nourished 
back  to  life.    To  the  untutored  mind  she  expresses  her- 
self in  visible  forms,  and  the  soul  of  man  finds  fellow- 
ship in  her  kindred  pastimes.    The  child's  eternal  query 
concerning  the  stars  of  the  night  and  the  flowers  of  the 
day,  his  love  for  the  beauty  of  meadows  green  and  grow- 
ing trees,  and  his  delight  in  the  presence  of  the  running 
stream,  the  singing  bird,  and  animal  life — are  akin  to 
the  richest  instincts  in  the  history  of  primitive  man. 
Happy  is  that  child  who,  in  his  contact  with  artificial 
life,  still  has  preserved  to  him  his  early  love  for  the 
beautiful  in  the  natural  world. 

2.  Religion. — The  belief  in  immortality  is  instinc- 
tive in  every  soul.     To  primitive  man  the  phenomena 
of  Nature  are  the  visible  expressions  of  the  infinite 
God.      Man   reaches   his   first    realization   of   the   ex- 
istence  of  deity  and  divine  goodness  not  through  a 
creed,  but  through  the  manifestations  of  the  beauty, 
adaptation,  and  manifest  design  in  the  world  about 
him.     The  immanent  God  has  been,  in  the  history  of 
man    in   his    struggle    from    infancy   unto    light,    the 
basic  consciousness  which  has  rendered  acceptable  the 
doctrines  of  higher  faith.    Because  of  this  historic  fact 
of  the  manner  which  God  deemed  best  for  the  develop- 
ment of  racial  man,  is  there  not  abundant  suggestion 
for  the  normal  education  of  the  child?     Is  it  not  a 
good  thing  for  a  child  to  reach  the  early  development  of 
his  religious  consciousness  through  the  growing  realiza- 
tion of  the  evidence  of  design  in  all  the  beauty,  correla- 
tion, and  unity  of  the  world  about  him  and  by  living 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   65 

more  in  the  presence  ol  the  immanent  God  ?  With  such 
grounding  of  consciousness  would  not  his  belief  be 
firmer  because  of  the  living  "  reason  for  the  faith  that 
is  in  him  "  ?  Contemplation  of  Nature  must  lead  to 
the  evidence  of  design,  and  design  must  presuppose  a 
designer.  Contact  with  superior  souls,  through  hero 
worship,  leads  to  the  realization  of  might  and  good- 
ness; and  in  the  ground-work  of  might  and  goodness 
arise  the  loftiest  ideals  of  a  personal  God.  No  creed  ever 
yet  spoke  to  the  sons  of  men  with  the  convincing  power 
of  the  voice  of  Nature,  "  which  cries  aloud  in  all  her 
works."  Later  on  the  doctrines  of  theology  may  well  be 
taught,  but  the  little  child  should  be  led  to  his  funda- 
mental consciousness  of  God  by  contact  with  the  mani- 
festations of  God.  There  is  that  in  the  heroics  of  the 
mountains,  in  the  majesty  of  the  ocean  surf,  in  the 
peacefulness  of  graceful  landscape  and  limpid  lake,  in 
the  eternal  query  of  the  stars,  in  the  grandeur  of  the 
forests,  in  the  exquisite  beauty  of  the  flowers,  in  the 
music  of  the  birds,  and  in  the  adaptation  and  perfect 
unity  of  all  life,  which  cradles  the  soul  for  indisputable 
belief  in  God  and  for  the  breathings  of  the  "  peace  that 
passeth  all  understanding." 

3.  Contact  with  Soil. — "  God  made  the  country,  but 
man  made  the  town."  Happy  is  he  who  spent  his  early 
life  on  the  farm  in  contact  with  soil  and  growing  things. 
The  child  who  has  never  dug  the  rich  ground  and  crum- 
bled the  nutrient  soil  with  his  hands,  nor  planted  the 
seed  which,  under  his  fostering  care,  is  to  unfold  into 
growing  life,  has  been  unfortunate  indeed.  To  dig,  to 
plant,  and  to  nourish  a  plant  as  one's  own  child,  what  a 
necessary  part  in  one's  education!  How  seldom  the  por- 


66  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

tion  of  direct  contact  with  these  things  in  the  life  of 
the  city  child,  and  yet  how  fundamentally  necessary 
in  the  natural  education  of  every  individual,  as  it  has 
ever  been  in  the  development  of  the  race  !  With  all  the 
movement  of  life  more  and  more  away  from  the  country 
toward  the  artificiality  of  the  city,  it  becomes  the  mis- 
sion of  the  school  to  bring  back  this  touch  with  basal  ele- 
ments, which  have  ever  been  the  rich  food  of  the  soul. 
The  healthy  child  must  live  in  the  sunshine,  must  touch 
the  soil  and  grow  things  of  life.  We  must  not  forget 
the  garden  which  was  man's  first  Eden. 

4.  Dominion  over  Life. — "And  God  said,  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness;  and  let 
them  have  dominion  over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  ove:f 
the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the 
earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon 
the  earth."  Pets  and  animal  companions  are  absolutely 
necessary  in  the  education  of  a  child.  The  affection 
existing  between  a  boy  and  his  faithful  dog  has  no 
parallel  in  the  whole  realm  of  pure  friendship.  The 
fidelity  of  the  dog,  the  companionship  of  the  cat,  and 
the  musical  song  of  the  bird  are  all  essential  to  the  life 
of  the  normal  child.  The  taming  of  the  birds,  the 
raising  of  little  chickens,  the  feeding  of  the  rabbits  and 
squirrels,  are  fruitful  exercises  in  the  inculcation  of  gen- 
tleness, care  for  others,  and  good  citizenship.  The  child 
who  knows  nothing  of  the  delights  of  such  comradeship 
is  unfortunate  indeed.  There  is  wanting  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  his  wholesome  life.  The  school  can  well 
afford  the  presence  of  the  singing  bird,  the  nimble 
squirrel,  the  graceful  fish,  and  kindred  forms  of  life  that 
make  the  school  room  a  miniature  world  and  open  up 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.      67 

the  rich  study  of  animated  Nature  and  its  contribution 
to  the  dominion  of  man. 

5.  Fellowship. — Individuality  has  its  safeguard  in 
the  companionship  of  others.    Never  should  a  child  be 
brought  up  in  isolation,  or  in  the  exclusive  companion- 
ship of  his  elders.     He  needs  playmates  and  school- 
mates of  his  own  age.    The  delights  of  having  a  chum, 
of  belonging  to  a  gang  or  team,  must  be  vouchsafed  to 
every  child  as  his  growing  nature  may  seek  to  assert 
itself.    Individualism  and  altruism  are  handmaids,  and 
the  more  perfect  the  one  is,  the  more  it  has  to  offer 
the  other.    The  gang  spirit,  under  proper  direction,  be- 
comes a  fruitful  factor  in  the  establishment  of  good 
order,  good  government,  and  higher  patriotism.     The 
child  who  is  reared  by  himself,  for  fear  of  pollution  by 
touch  with  others,  may  attain  to  a  doubtful  degree  of 
purity ;  but  he  is  a  sickly  plant,  coddled  in  his  weakness 
and  unnatural  in  his  imagination.     The  normal  child 
needs  fellowship  for  his  own  protection. 

6.  Construction. — To  invent,  to  design,  and  to  con- 
struct have  been  the  promising  factors  in  the  rise  of 
man.     In  expression  of  the  dormant  potentialities  of 
the  race  the  child  seeks  to  repeat  his  ancestral  history. 
The  high  educative  values  of  activity,  order,  and  crea- 
tion establish  the  claim  of  design  and  construction  to 
a  major  place  in  the  exercises  of  the  school.    The  child 
should  be  encouraged  to  make  things  for  his  plays  and 
games  and  toys;  instruments  for  his  experiments,  for 
the  school,  and  for  the  home.    The  exercises  in  manual 
training  must  be  related  to  service  in  play  or  work,  to 
help  the  individual  and  to  make  happy  his  friends.    The 
development  of  creative  faculty  is  the  highest  mission 


68  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  the  school.  As  the  genius  of  man  has  always  ex- 
pressed itself  in  constructive  exercises,  so  must  the 
child  in  like  ways  climb  to  the  higher  levels.  The  edu- 
cation which  ignores  creation  makes  man  a  servile 
creature  of  imitation,  dependent  in  his  every  movement 
upon  the  fancy  of  others. 

7.  Mythland. — In  his  love  for  story  hearing,  the 
child  repeats  the  long  and  well-tried  experiences  of  the 
world  before  the  age  of  the  alphabet  and  books.  As 
primitive  man  reached  a  glorious  elevation  in  his  rise 
through  story-telling  to  the  heights  of  Athenian  cul- 
ture, so  the  child  should  gain  his  first  inspiration,  his 
first  love  for  heroic  life,  from  the  story-teller.  It  is 
difficult  to  overestimate  the  great  value  of  this  noble 
exercise  in  the  inspiration  of  the  younger  child — an 
exercise  but  poorly  utilized  in  the  schools.  There  is 
much  in  the  great  world  of  Nature  which  the  child  must 
find  out  for  himself ;  there  is  much  also  which  he  should 
gain  from  the  story-teller  and  later  on  through  the  lec- 
turer. These  exercises  inspire  to  great  determination, 
and  give  ofttimes  the  larger  view  which  is  essential  in 
the  proper  accomplishment  of  individualistic  endeavour. 
The  story-teller  is  the  children's  friend,  and  their  means 
of  getting,  by  short-cut  and  in  a  nutshell,  far-reaching 
glimpses  into  the  world  which  others  have  trod.  A 
most  useless  person  in  the  school  room  is  the  teacher 
who  tells  everything ;  "  a  consummation  devoutly  to 
be  wished  "  is  the  story-teller  of  discrimination,  who 
can  unlock  the  portals  of  the  great  unknown  and  in- 
spire to  enter,  without  herself  gathering  the  rich  fruits 
and  flowers  which  must  be  the  privilege  of  the  inter- 
ested child.  As  in  the  early  history  of  the  race  there 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   60 

was  a  time  when  the  treasures  of  precious  learning  were 
handed  down  by  story-telling,  so  in  the  early  years  of 
individual  life  is  the  period  of  greatest  possibilities  for 
gathering  up,  from  mythland  and  narrative  history,  the 
elemental  keys  to  a  great  world  of  inspiration  and 
investigation. 

8.  Language. — From    the    hearing    of    the    story- 
teller the  child  himself  has  stories  to  tell.     Effective 
speech  is  always  the  natural  resultant  of  definite  con- 
cept.   When  the  child  has  something  to  say  the  art  of 
expression  is  easy.     The  early  language  of  the  child 
should  have  little  technique.    The  attentive  ear  to  what 
is  interesting  leads  to  its  own  worthy  imitation.    Gram- 
mar, spelling,  and  writing  may  be  necessary  at  their 
proper  times,  but  the  fundamental  requisite  is  the  en- 
kindled soul,  the  vivid  imagination,  and  the  definite 
concept — something  to  say  before  the  saying,  and  in- 
spiration to  say  the  saying.    Later  on,  the  technicalities 
of  speech  and  form  have  their  places,  but  it  is  not  early. 
To  gain  the  most  from  the  school,  the  child  must  be 
fresh  for  each  stage  of  endeavour,  must  feel  that  each 
exercise  fits  the  time  and  must  be  inspired  to  the  doing. 
Speech  is  ever  the  product  of  something  to  say;  and 
beauty  of  diction  comes,  not  from  grammatical  analy- 
sis, but  largely  by  imitation  and  soul  expression. 

9.  The  Widening  Horizon. — As  man  in  the  early 
stages  of  his  race  made  his  excursions  from  home  over 
areas  of  constantly  widening  circles,  so  the  child  in  his 
culture  should  have  the  wide  angle  which  sweeps  the 
entire  realm  commanded  from  his  point  of  view.     At 
each  successive  stage  his  vision  comprehends  the  same 
things  as  in  the  preceding,  but  farther  and  more  mi- 


70  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

nutely  and  more  relatedly.  His  central  position  is  still 
the  same,  but  his  experience  is  wider,  his  comprehen- 
sion more  extended,  and  his  generalization  more  grasp- 
ing. If  this  is  true,  then  the  child  is  not  hurt  by  travel 
through  much  of  the  world,  by  contact  with  the  ele- 
ments of  all  Nature  as  they  appear  to  him,  or  by  rich 
association  with  those  who  will  lift  him  into  higher 
industry  and  invention.  From  the  centre  outward  must 
be  the  inquiring  look.  The  horizon  is  constantly  wid- 
ening. The  gaze  may  not  cover  the  entire  circle,  but 
it  sees  over  the  same  territory  as  before,  but  farther 
and  better. 

10.  Tools. — As  with  the  race,  so  with  the  child,  the 
tools  for  accomplishment  must  be  proportionate  in  sim- 
plicity to  his  stages  of  growth.  Never  should  that 
which  can  count  for  only  a  tool  be  taken  for  an  end. 
Doubtless  the  early  work  of  the  formal  school  must 
have  considerable  to  do  with  the  acquisition  of  cer- 
tain alphabets  of  learning  and  the  mastery  of  cr 
working  tools;  but  the  opening  up  of  the  nature"  ..orld 
and  its  needs  should  suggest  the  need  of  the  tool  for 
the  child's  use.  From  contact  with  his  own  immedi- 
ate world  of  Nature  and  from  concept  formed  by  story- 
hearing,  the  child  through  imitation  tells  his  own  tale 
with  vivid  speech.  He  tells  his  story  well,  because  he 
has  something  to  say.  He  is  finding  his  way  to  speech 
because  there  is  need  for  that  which  is  overflowing  from 
within.  In  time  he  needs  to  communicate  his  thoughts 
to  others  in  written  form.  This  he  can  do  best  of  all 
through  drawing  and,  later  on,  by  attempt  at  represen- 
tation of  words  by  means  of  writing.  The  representa- 
tion of  words  by  spelling  then  becomes  necessary,  but 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   71 

here  also  comes  into  play  imitation.  To  do  his  work 
best  the  child  should  reproduce  words  elsewhere  seen 
and  recognised,  just  as  far  as  he  can;  but  never  in  his 
early  years  should  he  be  limited  to  the  use  of  words  in 
the  spelling  determined  proper  for  adults.  Given  the 
written  representation  of  elemental  sounds,  the  child 
should  be  encouraged  to  grapple  with  a  word  and 
represent  it  as  best  he  can,  as  he  also  represents  in 
drawing.  To  limit  a  child,  in  his  attempt  to  record 
his  stronger  concepts,  to  the  exact  spelling  of  the  few 
forms  with  which  he  is  familiar,  is  to  deny  him  all 
freedom  in  written  expression.  It  is  far  better  for  him 
to  express  himself  with  unbridled  liberty,  and  with 
many  inaccuracies  in  spelling,  than  to  be  discouraged 
from  attempt  at  all.  Correct  spelling  is  not  a  prime 
test,  nor  essential  in  the  language  of  young  children. 
Freedom,  fluency,  and  expression  demand  that  the 
child  should  have  opportunity  to  represent  himself  as 

^and  uniquely  as  he  may.  There  should  be  no  ap- 
pliccw  ftn  of  close  laws  in  the  determination  of  primary 
written  language  any  more  than  there  should  be  in 
elementary  music  composition.  The  growing  strength, 
the  self-evident  need,  the  continued  attempt,  the 
lifting  imitation,  all  need  the  natural  growth  which 
is  the  best  safeguard  of  the  expression  of  vigorous 
thought. 

So  also  in  drawing,  the  child  prefers  the  outline 
figure  rather  than  the  shaded  relief.  The  pictorial 
representations  of  ancient  drawings  appeal  more  to  the 
infant  imagination  than  the  beauty  of  rounded  form. 
Even  in  his  love  for  colour  the  child  reaches  back  to  an- 
cestral traits.  It  is  said  that  aboriginal  peoples  do 
7 


72  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

not  easily  recognise  a  representation  in  black  and 
white;  to  them  the  form  in  colour  is  more  intelligible. 
So  also  with  the  child:  colour  appeals  to  him  more,  and 
he  should  have  much  of  it  in  his  early  personal  repre- 
sentation. 

Thus,  through  the  child's  own  expression,  through 
written  language  and  drawing,  he  is  led  up  to  the  stage 
where  interpretation  of  the  representations  of  others  is 
to  him  necessary.  Then  that  which  by  premature  pres- 
entation might  have  appeared  to  him  as  mechanical 
and  abstruse,  becomes  a  living,  meaningful  exercise, 
and  he  responds  with  vivid  interest  to  his  profitable 
task.  Even  so  must  all  the  abstractions  and  difficulties 
of  technical  representation  be  subordinated  to  their 
true  sequence  in  a  scheme  of  scientific  education. 

From  Fundamentals  to  Accessories. — So,  therefore, 
in  a  fruitful  education  the  things  which  are  funda- 
mental must  take  precedence  over  the  things  which 
are  purely  accessory.  Good  health,  the  invigoration  of 
sunshine,  the  uplift  of  personality,  contact  with  Na- 
ture, love  for  the  beautiful  and  true,  individuality,  and 
harmony  with  the  laws  of  growth,  are  the  prime  es- 
sentials in  the  conservation  of  the  school.  The  natu- 
ral sequence  is  from  the  soul  outward,  utilizing  those 
media  which  are  best  for  its  own  growth  and  the  exer- 
cises which  are  the  most  fruitful  in  soul  expansion.  To 
reverse  this  universal  law  of  being  and  growth,  by  plac- 
ing technicality  first  and  Nature  last,  gives  an  arrest  of 
development  in  all  healthy  interest  and  innate  faculty. 
Technicalities  have  their  places  and  times,  but  not  in 
the  early  life  of  a  race  or  an  individual,  where  divine 
economy  has  established  the  necessity  of  unlimited  vis- 


FUNDAMENTALS  IN  PLANNING  A  SCHOOL.   73 

ion,  living  things,  liberty  in  action,  and  fruitful  growth. 
The  fundamentals  must  precede. 

The  accessories  have  their  proper  places.  Details  in 
penmanship,  exact  spelling,  theoretical  mathematics, 
the  technique  of  grammar,  the  philosophy  of  history, 
mechanical  drawing,  trade  industries  and  preparation, 
technical  science,  and  second-hand  information  are  all 
very  important;  but  they  are  not  fundamental,  and 
therefore  are  empty  husks  on  which  to  feed  a  young 
child.  Even  when  they  are  introduced  into  the  school 
they  must  be  subordinated  to  the  primeval  laws  which 
demand  that  contributory  things  should  forever  be  ac- 
cessory to  the  fundamental. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   SCHOOL   PLANT. 

DB.  RICHAKDSON,  in  his  Hygeia,  a  City  of  Health, 
has  given  us  a  beautiful  description  of  a  model  city, 
believing,  with  Chadwick,  that  a  city  could  be  con- 
structed with  any  given  mortality.  His  Hygeia  is  a 
city  of  100,000  people,  living  in  20,000  houses,  built  on 
4,000  acres  of  land,  an  average  of  25  persons  to  an  acre. 
Tall  houses,  overshadowing  the  streets  and  massing  peo- 
ple at  given  points,  are  nowhere  permitted,  excepting 
in  sections  devoted  to  business.  The  substratum  of  the 
city  is  of  two  kinds:  clay  in  the  northern  and  highest 
part,  and  gravel  in  the  southern  and  southeastern.  The 
houses  are  all  built  on  arches  of  solid  masonry,  and 
there  are  no  underground  rooms  of  any  kind.  Through 
these  subways  currents  of  water  continually  flow;  and 
into  these  are  the  washings  of  the  city.  The  streets 
are  everywhere  paved  with  asphalt,  so  that  there  is  no 
dust  or  dirt  and  but  little  noise.  The  houses  are  built  of 
glazed  brick,  impermeable  to  water,  and  the  bricks  are 
perforated  transversely  with  a  wedge-shaped  opening  at 
each  end,  so  that  the  walls,  while  continuous  in  surface 
without,  are  honeycombed  within,  and  through  these 
openings  ventilation  is  effected.  The  inner  surface  of 
the  walls  is  left  in  the  natural  brick  but  finished  in 
different  colours,  generally  gray.  There  are  no  layers 
74 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  75 

of  poisonous  papers  and  mouldy  paste;  and  the  walls  can 
be  washed  at  any  time.  As  with  the  brick,  so  also  with 
the  mortar  and  wood  employed  in  building:  they  are 
rendered,  as  far  as  possible,  free  from  moisture.  Sea 
sand  containing  salt,  and  wood  saturated  with  salt,  are 
nowhere  used.  The  chimneys  are  all  connected  with 
central  shafts,  into  which  the  smoke  is  drawn,  and,  after 
passing  through  a  gas  furnace  to  destroy  the  free  car- 
bon, is  discharged  colourless  into  the  open  air.  Every 
room  is  warmed  by  a  fireplace  which  also  heats  the  air 
moving  freely  through  the  honeycombed  walls.  The 
roofs  are  almost  flat,  and,  covered  with  asphalt  and 
barricaded  with  tastefully  painted  iron  palisades,  make 
outdoor  grounds  or  flower  gardens. 

The  floors  of  the  kitchens,  sleeping  rooms,  and  bath- 
rooms are  slightly  raised  in  the  centre  and  are  of  smooth 
gray  tile.  In  the  living  rooms  the  floors  are  of  hard 
wood,  kept  bright  and  clean  by  beeswax  and  turpentine. 
There  are  no  carpets.  In  the  sleeping  rooms  twelve 
hundred  cubic  feet  of  space  is  allowed  for  each  sleeper; 
and  from  these  rooms  all  unnecessary  articles  of  furni- 
ture and  clothing  are  excluded.  The  buildings  being  all 
of  one  story,  there  are  no  stairs.  Wherever,  for  special 
reasons,  there  must  be  two  stories,  the  bath-room  is  on 
the  midway  landing.  The  houses  front  both  ways.  Be- 
tween the  fronts  on  the  interior  is  an  open  space  for 
playground  and  garden.  The  house-drains  are  con- 
stantly flushed  into  the  subways,  which  are  ventilated 
through  tall  shafts  by  pneumatic  engines.  All  the  gas 
and  water  pipes  enter  the  houses  from  the  subways. 
Tobacco  and  spirituous  liquors  are  banished  from  the 
city.  There  are  no  massing  of  makers  of  clothing,  etc., 


76  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

into  large  factories,  but  each  class  of  workers  is  accom- 
modated with  convenient  quarters  similar  to  those  en- 
joyed by  the  professional  classes.  The  laundries  are 
placed  outside  of  the  city  and  are  under  official  in- 
spection. The  sick  are  cared  for  in  hospitals.  The 
city  is  well  provided  with  baths,  swimming  pools,  play- 
grounds, gymnasia,  libraries,  lyceum  and  concert  halls, 
etc.  Pure  water  is  supplied  to  each  house,  but  through 
iron  pipes.  Leaden  pipes  are  forbidden.  Transporta- 
tion is  effected  by  a  subway  system  under  central 
avenues ;  so  the  streets  are  always  free  from  dirt,  noise, 
and  the  massing  of  people.  For  the  few  persons  who 
die  from  natural  causes  the  burial  process  is  retained. 
The  bodies  are  buried  in  artificially  prepared  carbonifer- 
ous earth,  in  which  the  growing  of  rapid  vegetation 
soon  appropriates  to  itself  the  elements  of  the  bodies. 
There  being  in  a  short 'time  no  bodies  whose  resting- 
places  are  to  be  marked,  the  monumental  slabs  are 
placed  in  a  temple  of  historic  records. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  cardinal  outlines  of  Dr.  Eich- 
ardson's  City  of  Health.  Does  it  not  contain  many 
suggestions  for  the  planning  of  an  ideal  school?  Let 
us  consider  some  of  the  specifications  suggested  also  by 
other  ideals  here  and  there  throughout  the  world. 

An  ideal  school  should  be  built  in  a  park.  At  least, 
it  should  have  adequate  grounds,  preferably  not  in  the 
heart  of  the  city.  There  is  probably  no  other  assem- 
blage of  animals,  cared  for  by  man,  which  in  their 
culture  are  accorded  so  little  ground,  play  and  breathing 
space,  as  children.  No  one  would  think  of  building  a 
college  without  ample  surrounding  grounds.  Why 
should  there  be  less  provision  for  the  children? 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  77 

SOME  SUGGESTIVE  SCHOOLS. 

The  school  children  of  Andover,  Massachusetts,  are 
exceptionally  blessed  in  this  particular.  Here  is  a  mag- 
nificent campus  of  perhaps  twenty  acres,  with  extended 
frontage  and  oblong  shape.  The  school  children,  about 
six  or  seven  hundred  in  all,  are  accommodated  in  three 
buildings — the  primary  school,  the  grammar  school,  the 
high  school — so  situated  that  each  school  has  approxi- 
mately a  third  of  the  ground  for  air,  light,  play,  and 
gardens.  How  can  a  city  better  appropriate  its  parks? 

The  Pestalozzi-Froebel  House,  of  Berlin,  is  worthy 
of  careful  consideration.  Here,  practically  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  is  a  magnificent  park  of  four  or  five 
acres,  with  noble  forest  trees,  playgrounds,  gardens, 
animal  yards,  fountains,  and  other  effective  adjuncts  to 
the  school.  The  school  is  a  garden  home,  and,  from 
lodge  gate  to  the  attractive  centre,  is  delightfully 
planned  to  give  the  children  their  education  under  cir- 
cumstances in  contact  with  Nature. 

One  of  the  suggestive  schools  of  the  world  is  the 
Abbotsholme,  near  Rocester,  Derbyshire,  England. 
The  school  buildings,  surrounded  by  gardens  and  or- 
chards, are  in  the  middle  of  133  acres  of  magnificent 
school  property.  The  Abbotsholme  stands  320  feet 
above  sea  level  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Dove,  which 
it  overlooks.  The  surrounding  country  is  remarkably 
fine  and  open,  and,  being  nearly  all  wooded  hillside  and 
meadows,  is  like  a  vast  park.  Here  are  commodious 
sunlit  buildings,  shops,  beautiful  gardens,  grounds 
for  tennis,  cricket,  football,  and  tobogganing,  a  fine 
river  for  swimming — a  school  of  Nature  in  the  midst 


78  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  Nature.  Certainly  this  is  a  private  school,  made  self- 
sustaining  by  its  own  ideals  and  enterprise;  but  when, 
in  great  economic  industries,  and  even  in  university 
training,  did  the  state  ever  admit  that  it  can  not  com- 
pete with  private  enterprise?  In  these  days,  when 
the  smaller  farms  fail  to  bring  compensating  returns, 
why  not  utilize  them  once  again  for  the  culture  of 
children? 

In  Wales  there  is  a  farm  school  of  four  thousand 
acres  for  the  training  of  the  sons  of  noblemen  who  are 
to  become  landholders.  Almost  every  kind  of  industry 
related  to  the  farm  has  its  place  in  the  work  of  this 
school.  What  a  magnificent  place  this  would  be  for 
the  application  of  President  Hall's  seventy  different 
trades  and  occupations  which  he  describes  as  belonging 
to  the  education  of  the  New  England  farm  boys  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  ago !  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  President 
HalFs  suggestions  are  being  utilized  in  the  operations 
of  this  training  school. 

The  George  Junior  Kepublic,  of  Freeville,  New 
York,  is  certainly  a  very  interesting  institution.  From 
a  summer  camp  the  little  school  has  grown  to  be  a 
permanent  community.  The  site  is  a  farm,  which  con- 
tains an  administration  building;  the  "  Eepublic  "  build- 
ing, containing  kitchen,  restaurants,  hotel,  and  lodging- 
house;  the  school-house,  containing  also  banks  and 
stores;  the  court-house  and  community  offices,  cottages 
for  boys  and  girls,  a  hospital,  a  barn,  a  bath-house  and 
laundry,  carpenter  and  machine  shops,  and  the  garden. 
The  high  educational  value  of  the  plan  is  shown  from 
the  fact  that  the  citizenship  is  composed  of  boys  and 
girls,  of  ages  twelve  to  eighteen,  many  of  whom  might 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  79 

be  said  to  have  had  previously  a  strong  criminal  ten- 
dency. Here,  nearly  two  hundred  in  number,  they  are 
organized  into  a  practical  business  community,  with 
their  own  officers,  laws,  penalties,  and  participations. 
Each  citizen  must  work  for  his  living  at  some  selected 
vocation,  and  is  paid  for  his  services  in  community 
money,  from  which  he  must  support  himself.  Those 
who  are  the  most  industrious  and  prosperous  may  live 
at  their  "  Hotel  Waldorf/'  while  others  may  find  what 
they  can  pay  for  at  the  ordinary  hotel,  or  at  the  lodging- 
houses  and  restaurants.  Every  offender  is  promptly 
dealt  with  by  trial  in  the  court-house,  and  with  fine  or 
confinement  in  the  jail.  Competent  directors  are  at 
hand  to  render  guidance  and  assistance  as  may  be 
needed.  The  institution  is  largely  supported  by  the 
earnings  from  the  farm.  Under  the,  limited  revenues 
certainly  the  plan  can  not  be  ideal;  but  its  successful 
career,  now  for  seven  years,  shows  what  can  be  done, 
even  in  reformation,  by  giving  boys  and  girls  responsi- 
bility and  self-interest  in  work  which  is  not  entirely 
artificial. 

A  very  unique  school  is  the  McDonogh  Farm 
School,  located  eight  miles  from  Baltimore.  The  school 
is  situated  on  a  fine  old  colonial  estate  containing  835 
acres.  Forests  of  nut-bearing  trees  for  birds  and  squir- 
rels and  boys,  meadows,  clear-running  brooks,  fertile 
soil,  gardens,  vineyards,  and  orchards  of  fruit  trees 
make  this  a  rare  spot.  The  property  represents  $1,500,- 
000,  and  is  a  noble  monument  to  John  McDonogh,  who 
fifty  years  ago  closed  his  will  with  this  pathetic  expres- 
sion: "I  was  near  forgetting  that  I  had  one  small  re- 
quest to  make,  one  little  favour  to  ask,  and  it  shall  be 


80  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  last.  It  is  that  it  may  be  permitted  annually  to 
the  children  of  the  schools  to  plant  and  water  a  few 
flowers  round  my  grave."  One  hundred  and  fifty  boys, 
of  ages  ten  to  sixteen,  are  here  enrolled.  Their  usual 
school  studies  are  not  neglected;  but  they  are  also 
trained  in  the  exercises  of  the  farm.  Gardening,  care 
of  animals,  bee-keeping,  carpentry,  wood-carving,  draft- 
ing, broom-making,  military  drill,  music — all  offer  their 
valuable  contributions.  The  Rudimentary  Society  for 
boys  is  a  very  interesting  part  of  the  schooling.  The 
rights  of  the  individual  are  always  to  be  respected.  A 
boy's  name  placed  near  a  bird's  nest  or  a  squirrel's  hole 
protects  it  sacredly.  This  little  community  with  its 
peculiar  features  is  certainly  very  suggestive. 

At  the  Casa  de  Piedra  Ranch,  in  the  Ojai  Valley, 
among  the  mountains  of  southern  California,  may  be 
found  a  school  of  exceptional  interest,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Sherman  Day  Thacher,  of  Yale,  and  his  capable 
assistants.  Some  thirty  boys,  largely  from  the  East 
and  preparing  for  the  better  colleges,  are  received. 
Each  one,  on  admittance,  is  given  a  horse  to  be  his  prop- 
erty and  for  which  he  must  care.  The  school  is  semi- 
military  in  its  conduct.  The  boys  all  rise  early  and 
attend  to  their  part  of  the  ranch  life.  Then  the  morn- 
ing is  spent  in  hard,  fruitful  study.  When  the  after- 
noon signal  comes,  every  boy  mounts  his  horse  and  away 
ove*  the  mountains  in  gallop  and  fun.  The  early  even- 
ing has  its  cultured  social  life,  until  the  retiring  bell 
closes  the  day's  activity.  Notwithstanding  the  large 
amount  of  time  given  to  field  and  mountain  sports,  this 
school  has  no  difficulty  in  preparing  its  students  for  the 
best  of  Eastern  colleges. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  81 

But  how,  says  some  one,  shall  we  secure  to  the  chil- 
dren this  abundance  of  air  and  playground  in  our  mod- 
ern concentrated  life  in  cities  ?  By  building  the  schools 
in  central  parks  or  on  suburban  farms,  as  will  be  shown 
further  on.  One  of  the  unfortunate  tendencies  of 
American  life  is  that  man  is  becoming  less  and  less  a 
walking  animal.  It  is  said  that  in  Switzerland,  where 
the  children  spend  excessively  long  hours  in  the  school, 
the  physical  health  is  exceptionally  good,  and  that  this 
has  it's  explanation  in  the  long  walks  over  the  moun- 
tains, which  the  children  must  take  in  order  to  get  to 
school.*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this  magnificent  exer- 
cise is  rapidly  becoming  a  lost  art  in  America.  The 
child  who,  because  of  physical  weakness,  can  not  go  to 
school  unless  the  school  is  in  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood, is  hurt  more  by  school-room  confinement  than  he 
is  benefited  in  his  education. 

The  Jacob  Tome  Institute,  at  Port  Deposit,  Mary- 
land, is  to  be  one  of  the  most  promising  model  schools 
of  America.  Here  private  endowment  is  offering  a 
worthy  substitute  for  the  usual  system  of  public  educa- 
tion. In  Port  Deposit  there  are  no  schools  supported 
at  public  expense;  there  is  no  school  board  of  changing 
constituency  to  limit  the  reaching  of  lofty  ideals.  The 
Institute  has  recently  purchased  a  magnificent  campus 
of  one  hundred  acres  or  more,  a  hundred  feet  above 
the  Susquehanna,  the  beautiful  windings  of  which  it 
overlooks,  and  there  it  is  now  proceeding  to  erect  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  buildings,  with  all  their  de- 
lightful surroundings  and  opportunities,  for  the  accom- 

*  Educational  Review,  vol.  xxix,  p.  92. 


82  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

modation  of  two  thousand  pupils.  The  fact  that  this 
site  is  on  a  bluff,  above  the  town,  which  it  overhangs, 
and  some  distance  away,  presents  no  engineering  diffi- 
culties to  the  vigorous  management  of  this  school, 
which  seeks  the  best  in  education. 

In  1894  Mr.  W.  F.  Wheeler,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
and  an  educator  of  many  years'  experience,  submitted 
to  the  citizens  of  Los  Angeles,  California,  a  plan  for 
the  centralization  of  all  the  schools  of  that  city  (popu- 
lation then  100,000)  in  a  general  school  park.  What 
appears  at  first  thought  perhaps  impracticable  resolves 
itself  on  maturer  consideration  into  a  scheme  of  high 
economic  and  suggestive  value.  Mr.  Wheeler's  article  * 

*  "  The  recent  appointment  of  Professor  Search  as  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Schools  in  Los  Angeles,  and  the  delivery  of  his 
address — An  Ideal  Public  School  System — at  a  reception  given  in 
his  honour,  September  17, 1894,  at  Hazard's  Pavilion,  also  his  neces* 
sary  demands  for  more  accommodations  to  seat  two  thousand  or 
more  scholars  and  to  establish  an  industrial  high  school,  all 
involving  the  necessity  of  issuing  school  bonds  to  a  great  amount, 
make  it  a  fit  opportunity  to  present  to  the  public  my  long-cher- 
ished plan  of  a  school  park,  to  carry  out,  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  and  progress  of  present  civilization,  more  successfully, 
practically,  and  economically  the  very  same  theories  of  teaching 
that  Professor  Search  so  justly  advocates. 

"The  plan  is  this:  There  shall  be  established  by  the  city  a 
park  of  suitable  dimensions,  say  not  less  than  two  hundred  acres, 
in  a  healthful  locality  near  the  city  limits,  say  the  west  side,  in 
which  shall  be  located  all  the  public  schools  of  the  city  grouped 
according  to  their  different  grades — primary,  secondary,  and  so 
on.  These  school  barracks  should  be  made  fire,  wind,  flood,  and 
earthquake  proof,  of  simple  architecture,  say  Doric,  only  one  story 
high,  with  no  side  windows,  but  lighted  from  above.  They  should 
be  so  constructed  that  they  would  connect  closely  with  a  central 
audience-room.  Each  grade  of  schools  would  be  a  community  by 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  83 

supplies  a  very  valuable  link  in  this  chain  of  construc- 
tion. I  take  pleasure  in  quoting  largely  from  his  con- 
tribution. 

itself  and  under  one  management.  Playgrounds  would  be  at- 
tached to  each  group  of  buildings.  Broad  verandas  on  either  side 
of  the  school  barracks  would  afford  ample  shelter  from  sun  and 
rain.  Closely  adjoining  each  group  of  barracks  would  be  the 
industrial  barracks,  which,  of  course,  would  include  the  indus- 
trial, kitchen  to  provide  the  noon  lunch  for  the  scholars,  complete 
in  its  equipment  for  industrial  education  suitable  to  each  school 
department. 

u  All  these  school  barracks  throughout  the  park  should  be 
lighted,  heated,  ventilated,  swept,  dusted,  and  disinfected  by  one 
source  of  power,  probably  electricity  applied  to  machinery  and 
labor-saving  devices. 

"  The  grounds  of  this  school  park  should  be  laid  out  aestheti- 
cally, yet  be  one  grand  kindergarten  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the 
schools  in  all  the  grades,  with  broad  and  extensive  walks  and 
avenues  for  exercise,  observation,  and  military  drill,  with  abun- 
dance of  room  for  field  sports  for  the  older  scholars,  with  arbore- 
tum, herbarium,  zoological  garden,  museum,  and,  last  but  not 
least,  a  miniature  ranch  or  garden  complete  in  detail,  systemati- 
cally and  scientifically  conducted. 

"  All  the  labour  in  the  industrial  department  and  in  the  park 
should  be  done,  as  far  as  possible  and  practicable,  by  details  of 
scholars  under  qualified  instructors  in  outdoor  work  and  play, 
especially  the  play,  when  the  unconscious  instruction  should  be 
omnipresent  and  omnipotent— a  great  desideratum  in  our  public 
schools  to-day. 

"  This  school  park  should  be  made  accessible  to  the  whole  city 
by  a  system  of  electric  railways  that  would  gridiron  the  city  at 
suitable  distances  apart.  This  system  of  free  transportation  of 
scholars  must  be  an  exclusive  annex  of  the  school  park  and  belong 
exclusively  to  the  city.  These  school  cars  will  be  especially 
adapted  to  school  work,  lighted  from  above  and  not  on  the  sides, 
which  are  closed.  These  cars,  when  they  reach  the  barracks,  can, 
if  necessary,  be  turned  into  an  annex  to  the  school  barracks  as 


84  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

We  are  now  ready  to  put  together  many  co-ordi- 
nating parts  from  these  described  ideals  in  our  gen- 
eral specifications  for  the  building  of  an  ideal  school. 

Plans  for  an  Ideal  School  Building. — The  school 
site  should  be  high  and  dry,  with  perfect  natural  drain- 
age for  its  own  waters,  but  receiving  nothing  from 
higher  land.  The  sub-soil  should  be  natural  and  not 
artificial,  containing  no  organic  matter.  It  should  be  in 
character  of  gravel,  marl,  lime,  and  sand  ingredient,  and 

recitation  rooms  or  as  the  school  room  itself.  They  could  be  used 
in  the  evening  foriree  night  schools  all  over  the  city — in  a  word, 
they  are  a  school  room  on  wheels.  The  central  power  for  moving 
the  cars  should  be  located  in  the  park,  which  also  would  furnish 
the  power  required  within  the  park.  The  conductors  and  motor- 
men  should  be  qualified  by  education  and  character  to  be  instruc- 
tors in  the  school  room  or  outside  of  it  when  the  schools  are  in 
session. 

"  All  the  official  business  of  the  Board  of  Education  would  be 
done  in  the  park  or  immediately  adjoining,  also  the  boarding 
houses  for  teachers  and  outside  instructors.  Of  course,  the  police 
regulations  must  necessarily  be  very  strict;  no  use  of  tobacco, 
intoxicating  liquor,  profanity,  obscenity,  or  immorality  of  any 
kind  that  would  furnish  in  any  way  a  demoralizing  object-lesson 
to  scholars  or  teachers,  could  possibly  be  allowed. 

"  With  regard  to  the  expense  of  such  a  change,  if  the  school- 
park  system  were  adopted,  the  present  school  buildings  could  be 
sold.  The  proceeds,  together  with  the  increased  values  of  the 
school  park  and  of  surrounding  properties  resulting  from  improve- 
ments made  in  the  park,  would  be  more  than  adequate  for  cost  of 
park,  buildings,  cars,  and  school-railway  system.  Whatever  the 
first  cost,  current  expenses  of  public  schools  would  be  greatly 
reduced,  better  health  of  pupils  would  result  from  improved 
hygienic  plans,  and  the  problem  of  industrial  public  schools  would 
be  solved."  (W.  F.  Wheeler,  in  Los  Angeles  Evening  Express, 
October  20,  1894.) 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  85 

should  be  tested  by  boring.  In  the  language  of  Dr. 
Galton,*  "  A  porous  sub-soil  not  encumbered  with 
vegetation  and  protected  from  impurities,  with  a  good 
fall  for  drainage,  not  receiving  or  retaining  the  water 
from  any  higher  ground,  and  the  prevailing  winds  blow- 
ing over  no  marshy  or  unwholesome  ground,  will,  as  a 
general  rule,  afford  the  greatest  amount  of  protection 
from  disease  of  which  the  climate  will  admit."  The 
exposure  should  be  to  the  southeast. 

On  such  a  site  should  be  the  buildings,  the  play- 
grounds, and  the  gardens  of  the  school. 

The  building  itself  should  face  the  southeast,!  as 
this  arrangement  carries  the  sun-bath  to  every  room, 
and,  with  the  changes  of  the  day,  gives  the  degrees  of 
direct  light  and  shade  adapted  to  the  usual  school 
hours. 

The  foundations  could  not  be  better  built  than  on 
arches  of  solid  masonry,  as  proposed  by  Dr.  Eichardson.J 

The  walls  of  the  building  should  be  of  brick,  imper- 
vious to  moisture  or  absorption  of  organic  refuse.  The 
porosity  of  ordinary  building  materials  is  much  greater 
than  is  generally  supposed.  If  to  a  large  block  of 
sandstone  two  pieces  of  gas  pipe  are  attached,  but  on 
opposite  sides  and  perpendicular  to  the  sides,  and  the 
exterior  of  the  sandstone  is  coated  with  thick  paint,  so 
that  the  paint  forms  an  air-tight  box  with  the  only 
openings  through  the  gas  pipes,  and  one  pipe  is  con- 
nected with  a  supply  of  gas,  the  porosity  of  the  stone  is 


*  Gallon's  Healthy  Hospitals,  p.  29. 
f  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  p.  36. 
J  Richardson's  Hygeia,  a  City  of  Health. 


86  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

sufficient  to  permit  a  Very  good  burning  flame  on  the 
other  side  of  the  block,  even  if  the  intervening  thick- 
ness measures  a  foot  or  more.  It  is  also  possible  to 
affect  the  flame  of  a  candle  by  blowing  with  a  small 
bellows  through  a  dry  brick  wall. 

Galton  tells  of  an  experiment  made  in  New  York 
by  Putnam,  which  "  showed  that  with  every  means 
taken  to  prevent  porosity  or  cracks,  the  inflow  through 
the  walls  amounted  to  nearly  5,400  cubic  feet  per  hour 
in  a  room  containing  only  a  little  over  3,000  cubic  feet 
of  air  space,  when  the  outside  air  was  about  36°  Fahr., 
and  that  inside  varied  72°  to  90°  Fahr."  * 

This  in  itself  would  not  be  bad,  because  of  its  help 
to  ventilation;  but,  when  these  porous  walls  become 
filled  with  stagnant  moisture,  effluvia,  and  other  un- 
wholesome absorptions,  their  use  for  school-houses  of 
health  becomes  questionable. 

The  walls,  therefore,  might  well  be  of  glazed  brick 
without,  and  of  vitrified  tile,  of  soft  pleasing  tint, 
within.  All  the  wood-work  should  be  of  hard  wood,  and 
the  floors  in  particular  be  close  in  grain,  with  no  cracks, 
and  rendered  sanitary  and  easily  cleansed  by  treatment 
with  beeswax  and  turpentine.  For  rooms  like  those 
here  described — i.  e.,  of  one  story  f — a  metallic  ceiling, 
properly  painted,  would  answer  very  well.  There  should 
be  no  stud  partitions,  but  wherever  the  same  might 
be  unavoidable  they  should  be  made  of  metallic  lath 
and  non-porous  cement. 

*  Gallon's  Healthy  Hospitals,  p.  56. 

f  For  intermediate  ceilings  of  buildings  of  more  than  one  story 
special  deadening  must  be  used,  or  the  ordinary  metallic  ceiling 
will  make  a  noisy  sounding-board. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  87 

All  sharp  angles  in  corners  and  edges  should  be 
avoided  by  using  concave  surfaces,  in  order  to  facilitate 
perfect  cleaning.  The  jambs  of  windows  and  doors 
should  also  be  rounded.  The  doors  should  be  equipped 
with  transoms  and  glass  panels  and  open  toward  the  cor- 
ridors. A  room  so  constructed  would  present  no  ab- 
sorbing surfaces,  and  could  be  easily  cleansed  in  en- 
tirety. When  we  reflect  that,  according  to  Hesse,* 
35,000  bacteria  have  been  found  in  every  cubic  metre  of 
air  of  a  school  room  at  the  end  of  the  session;  and,  ac- 
cording to  Ignatieff,f  that  a  pupil  would  thus  in  a  five 
hours'  session  inhale  44,655  germs;  and  that  Eris- 
mann  J  has  found  many  kinds  of  micro-organisms  and 
moulds  in  the  school  room;  and  that  the  death  of  cer- 
tain animals  has  been  produced*  by  injection  of 
liquids  saturated  with  condensed  vapours  carrying  the 
toxic  products  of  the  school  room — it  seems  rational 
that  we  should  adopt,  for  the  preservation  of  the 
health  of  the  children,  the  same  measures  deemed 
necessary  in  our  better  hospitals.  Accumulations  of 
carbonic-acid  gas  are  certainly  to  be  avoided;  but 
even  these  are  not  nearly  so  dangerous  to  certain 
susceptible  children  as  other  toxic  products  not  so 
easily  detected. 

The  buildings  should  be  of  one  story  only.  There 
should  be  no  basement  rooms  of  any  kind;  but  the 
superstructure  should  rest  on  solid  arches  of  masonry, 
thoroughly  ventilated,  warmed,  and  kept  perfectly 
dry.  The  ceilings,  for  a  building  of  this  character, 

*  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  pp.  65-73. 
t  Ibid.  t  Ibid.  '  *  Ibid. 

8 


88  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

should  be,  in  general,  fourteen  feet  high,  or  more  if 
the  size  of  the  room  will  permit  good  acoustic  prop- 
erties.* 

The  room  should  open  into  a  continuous  outer  cor- 
ridor or  colonnade,  inclosed  with  glass  during  the  win- 
ter time,  but  open  during  the  spring,  summer,  and 
autumn. 

The  illumination  of  the  school  room  should  be  from 
above,  which  is  the  plan  decreed  by  Nature  and  to  which 
the  eye  is  adjusted.  Through  milk-white,  translucent 
glass  the  light  should  be  flooded  into  the  room  by  ceil- 
ing areas  sufficiently  large  and  well-distributed  to  reach 
equally  every  portion  of  the  room  and  without  possibil- 
ity of  shadow.  This  is  rendered  possible  by  the  build- 
ings being  of  one  story  only. 

The  walls  should  be  entirely  without  reflection,  and 
carry  a  soft  shade  of  light  green. f  If  because  of  any 
necessity  the  room  can  not  be  so  well  flooded  with 
light,  the  shade  of  the  wall  colour  might  well  be  a 
light  buff. 

The  crayon  boards  should  be  of  dark-green  composi- 
tion, or  of  natural  slate,  blue-black,  J  with  fine  texture 
and  without  grit.  The  height  above  the  floor  should 
be  from  two  feet  four  inches  in  the  primary  rooms  to 

*  The  height  of  ceiling  must  also  be  largely  dependent  on  the 
character  of  the  warming  apparatus  and  air  circulation.  Archi- 
tects usually  estimate  that  a  room  of  sixteen  feet  ceiling  requires 
twice  as  much  heat  as  a  room  of  twelve  feet  ceiling,  or  even 
more. 

f  The  Brickbuilder,  vol.  vi,  p.  267. 

j  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  p.  162.  Hall's  Health  of  School 
Children,  p.  17, 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  89 

three  feet  in  the  higher  rooms;  the  width  should  be 
four  feet  six  inches.  The  chalk  receiver  should  be  two 
inches  wide,  and  should  not  filtrate  the  dust  into  hid- 
den receptacles,  unless  connected  with  exhaust.  No 
crayon  should  be  used  which  will  create  dust.  The 
slate  should  be  cleansed  with  a  wet  sponge.  Kotel- 
mann  prefers  crayon  of  a  pale  yellow,*  which  would  be 
very  good  for  the  dark-green  surface.  The  teacher's 
crayon  board  should  be  balanced  by  weights,  and  rise 
and  fall  in  order  to  preserve  the  line  of  writing  at 
shoulder  level,  as  in  many  excellent  schools  of  Conti- 
nental Europe,  particularly  the  new  Cantonal  Normal 
School  of  Lausanne,  Switzerland.  There  should  be  no 
side  windows  in  the  room  for  illuminating  purposes, 
but  on  the  side  opening  into  the  corridor  or  colonnade 
there  should  be  windows  through  which  the  children 
can  look  out  on  the  school  gardens.  There  might  also 
be  overhead  openings  on  opposite  sides  of  the  room 
for  natural  ventilation  in  very  warm  weather,  but  these 
should  be  closed  and  screened  at  other  times.  In  rooms 
requiring  direct  sunlight  for  projection,  there  should 
certainly  be  window  openings  or  other  apertures  on 
the  side  of  proper  exposure. 

By  this  plan  of  illumination  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
light  is  entirely  from  overhead,  which  is  Nature's  plan. 
There  is  no  direct  sunlight,  and  yet  the  room  is  flooded 
with  pure  white  light,  well  distributed  and  nearly  free 
from  conflicting  shadows. 

Through  views  commanding  the  gardens  the  child 
still  looks  out  on  the  natural  world,  but  these  corridor 

*  Kotelmann's  School  Hygiene,  p.  168. 


90  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

windows  are  shaded,  and  are  overcome  by  the  superior 
flood  of  light  from  above. 

The  ventilation  of  the  room  should  be  effected 
through  walls  that  breathe.  The  walls  in  Richard- 
son's Hygeia  are  honeycombed  by  the  bricks,  imperme- 
able to  water,  being  perforated  transversely  with  a 
wedge-shaped  opening  at  each  end  into  which  no  mortar 
is  inserted,  and  with  all  openings  communicating  into 
each  other.  The  outer  layer  of  brick  is  glazed  and  pre- 
sents an  unbroken  surface.  The  air  admitted  into  this 
honeycomb  should  be  taken  from  higher  levels  and  not 
from  the  ground,  as  in  all  ordinary  methods.  The 
warming  of  the  building  should  be  by  tempering  the 
honeycombed  air  by  electric  heaters  in  the  walls.*  The 
air,  admitted  through  all  walls  at  heights  above  the 
head  level,  should  be  removed  by  equally  well-dis- 
tributed openings  in  the  floor  by  mechanical  exhaust. 
In  summer  time  the  air  should  be  cooled  by  mechanical 
process,  giving  the  negative  of  our  present  winter  ne- 
cessities. 

The  corridors  also  should  be  mechanically  warmed 
and  ventilated  during  the  time  of  their  winter  inclosure. 
Each  room  should  have  its  adjacent  cloak-room,  thor- 
oughly warmed  and  subject  to  exhaust.  In  like  manner 
the  closet  and  lavatory  system  should  be  by  accommo- 
dations in  near-at-hand  parts  of  the  building.  The 

*  The  wonderful  development  of  electricity  and  the  ease  of  its 
distribution  by  wires  render  perfectly  feasible  this  means  of  uni- 
form distribution  of  warmth  in  buildings.  The  marvellous  dis- 
coveries in  liquid  air  and  its  application  are  very  suggestive  for 
expedients  in  the  reversal  in  summer  of  our  present  methods  of 
tempering  the  winter  air. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  91 

usual  method  of  herding  children  into  closets  is  objec- 
tionable. Children  are  entitled  to  some  privacy  as  well 
as  {heir  elders,  and  besides  such  places  should  be  for 
their  use  at  any  desired  time  and  not  at  the  general 
recess,  when  the  inclination  to  play  and  to  avoid  pub- 
licity tempts  them  to  neglect  and  to  irregularity  in 
habits.  The  lavatories  and  closets  should  be  finished  in 
white  marble  with  white  enamelled  upper  walls,  and 
should  be  flooded  with  direct  sunshine  and  thoroughly 
ventilated.  They  should  open  into  the  cloak-rooms. 
The  lavatories  should  contain  drinking  water,  distilled, 
free  from  lead,  and  supplied  at  proper  temperature. 
The  cloak-rooms  should  be  separated  for  boys  and  girls 
and  be  equipped  with  individual  lockers. 

The  building  should  have  its  studios,  laboratories, 
and  workshops  grouped,  adapted,  and  equipped  for 
their  respective  purposes;  its  teachers'  rooms;  its  play 
room  and  open  court;  gymnasium  and  drill  hall; 
libraries ;  auditorium ;  art  corridor ;  lunch  rooms ;  plant 
and  animal  room.  Without,  it  should  have  its  gardens, 
playgrounds,  and  model  park.  As  far  as  possible  the 
school  premises  should  constitute  a  miniature  world. 

The  equipment  of  each  room  should  be  adapted  to 
its  specific  function.  Why  should  all  rooms  be  equipped 
alike?  Certainly  it  should  not  be  because  of  the  pov- 
erty of  inventive  mind.  In  any  given  school  room  the 
furniture  should  not  be  such  as  to  demand  uniformity 
of  posture.  If  a  child  must  have  much  of  his  school 
indoors,  he  should  be  permitted  to  stand  up,  or  sit  down, 
or  to  move,  as  Nature  prompts  him.  This  question  of 
furnishings  will  be  discussed  at  greater  length  fur- 
ther on. 


92  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

The  building  and  its  appurtenances  should  be  such 
as  to  appeal  to  the  artistic  sense.  The  architecture 
should  be  simple  but  effective.  Within,  restful  colour- 
ing, pictures  of  art,  artistic  decorations  and  curios, 
aquaria,  and  graceful  flowers;  without,  the  climbing 
vine,  the  fountain  and  its  living  life,  here  and  there  an 
heroic  statue.  These,  with  the  graceful  hills,  the  native 
forests,  the  growing  fields,  the  limpid  streams,  and 
miniature  lake,  and  their  abounding  life,  and  all  the 
surroundings  of  the  park,  should  make  the  school  a 
place  of  beauty  and  imparted  ideals. 

"  Yes,"  remarks  Mr.  Taxpayer,  "  but  how  about  get- 
ting so  much  ground  for  the  school?  It  seems  to  me 
your  park  calls  for  the  expenditure  of  a  good  deal  of 
money." 

Perhaps  it  may,  but  we  have  no  difficulty  in  getting 
sufficient  acreage  for  our  stock  farms,  and  that  too 
often  very  close  to  our  cities.  However,  further  on 
it  will  be  shown  that  the  expense  would  be  really  not 
as  great  as  it  may  seem. 

Even  if  the  full  plan  of  the  larger  school  park  can 
not  be  realized,  there  are  many  ways  of  reaching  these 
ideals  on  a  smaller  scale  right  in  the  heart  of  our  cities. 

Many  delightful  schools  of  this  kind  are  already 
in  operation.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the 
schools  of  Andover,  Mass.  Madame  Claverie's  beautiful 
Casa  de  Rosas  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  is  a  delightful  exam- 
ple of  what  may  be  done  in  this  way.  Here,  perhaps, 
was  the  most  artistic  school  ever  designed  in  America. 
The  building  was  largely  one  story,  and  in  architecture 
an  adaptation  of  the  Moorish,  which  has  expressed  itself 
so  well  in  southern  California.  Within,  the  rooms  were 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  93 

chaste  in  soft  colouring,  in  graceful  outlines,  adapted 
furnishings  and  suggestive  decorations.  The  building 
faced  both  outward  and  inward,  a  delightful  inner  court 
of  beautiful  outlines,  fountain,  and  semi-tropical  vegeta- 
tion being  formed  by  the  surrounding  buildings.  With- 
out the  building  were  the  children's  gardens  and  a  cano- 
pied playground,  with  climbing  vines  almost  covering 
the  outer  walls,  while  the  boundaries  of  the  school 
premises  were  walks  of  beautiful  pepper-trees,  hedges 
of  roses,  and  orange  orchards.  The  whole  school,  in 
all  its  correlating  parts  and  effective  unity,  was  the 
dream  of  a  poet,  the  ideal  of  an  educator,  and  the  reali- 
zation of  years  of  sacrifice  and  toil.  The  name  Casa 
de  Eosas  is  no  more  beautiful  and  effective  than  was  this 
delightful  school  in  glorious  ideals  and  inspiration  in 
the  days  of  its  suggestive  career.  That  its  earnest 
creator  should  pay  the  penalty  that  marks  the  lives  of 
those  who  live  to  present  ideals  by  which  evolution 
reaches  its  more  perfect  realization,  is  the  repeated 
story,  many  times  told  in  the  history  of  an  advancing 
world.  Happy  were  the  children  who  breathed  the  de- 
lightful air  of  this  suggestive  school,  and  many  will  be 
the  schools  that  have  caught  inspiration  from  the  Casa 
de  Rosas. 

In  larger  and  more  magnificent  ways  the  great  Stan- 
ford University  is  the  most  suggestive  style  of  archi- 
tecture, perhaps,  in  the  world,  for  adaptation  to  the 
purposes  of  an  ideal  school.  It  is  itself  an  adaptation 
of  the  mission  architecture  of  southern  California,  and 
monumentalizes  these  glorious  ideals  which  should  be 
the  pride  of  all  America.  The  missions  themselves  were 
great  industrial  schools  for  the  elevation  of  the  children 


94  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  Nature,  and  suggest  much  for  utilization  in  a  school 
that  should  be  equally  broad  in  its  purposes.  Here, 
at  Stanford,  in  the  centre,  is  a  great  oblong  quadrangle, 
586  feet  long  and  246  feet  wide,  containing  three  and 
a  quarter  acres,  paved  with  asphalt  and  ornamented 
with  fountains  and  clumps  of  effective  vegetation.  All 
around  this  inner  quadrangle  or  patio  is  a  continuous 
colonnade  of  noble  arches  and  rich  colouring,  the  colon- 
nade making  a  continuous  walk  of  nearly  half  a  mile. 
Without  this  colonnade,  and  opening  on  it,  are  the 
groupings  of  class  rooms,  laboratories,  libraries,  lecture 
rooms,  administration  offices,  etc.,  all  one  story  in 
height.  The  roofing  is  of  rich  red  tile,  giving  an  effect- 
ive but  artistic  capping  to  this  most  unique  school  struc- 
ture in  all  the  world.  Between  the  several  groupings 
of  departmental  rooms,  but  through  continuous  arches 
of  the  beautiful  colonnade,  are  the  entrances,  foot 
walks,  and  driveways  to  the  open  patio, 

Without  the  first  quadrangle,  but  widely  separated 
from  it,  is  now  building  a  second  quadrangle  of  archi- 
tecture entirely  inclosing  the  first;  and  at  the  ends  of 
the  second  quadrangle  are  designed  other  groupings  of 
longitudinal  buildings.  The  original  plan  provides  for 
indefinite  expansion,  without  crowding  or  distortion. 
Surrounding  this  ideal  series  of  structures  is  the  great 
Stanford  farm,  with  here  and  there  other  buildings  of 
greater  height,  for  museum,  gymnasia,  chapel,  mechan- 
ic arts  hall,  dormitories,  and  dwellings.  Stanford  Uni- 
versity is  the  practical  realization  of  great  but  new 
ideals  in  school  architecture,  which  with  much  profit 
may  be  adapted  for  the  specific  purposes  of  other  educa- 
tional institutions. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  95 

Gathering  together  these  suggestions  of  Dr.  Eich- 
ardson's  City  of  Health,  the  schools  of  Andover,  the 
Pestalozzi-Froebel  House,  Abbotsholme,  the  George 
Junior  Republic,  the  McDonogh  Farm  School,  the 
Jacob  Tome  Institute,  the  Casa  de  Eosas,  and  the  real- 
ized great  Stanford  University,  and  incorporating  the 
fundamental  specifications  already  presented,  let  us 
eee  now  if  we  can  not  construct  a  school  plant  of  greater 
efficiency  in  promoting  the  educational  interests  of  the 
child. 


GENERAL  DEDUCTIONS. 

The  plan  comprehends  a  school  system  of  five  thou- 
sand children.  By  reference  to  a  subsequent  chapter, 
it  will  be  understood  that  the  plan  of  organization  is 
to  do  away  with  the  mechanical  grading  of  schools  into 
twelve  grades,  which  never  have  corresponded  to  their 
original  intention,  and  to  substitute  a  grouping  into 
four  departments,  based  largely  on  the  great  nascent 
periods  of  growth.  These  departments  may  be  known 
as  the  play  school,  the  elementary  school,  the  interme- 
diate school,  and  the  high  school  or  gymnasium.  Pref- 
erably, each  department  is  to  be  accommodated  in  its 
own  building.  If  the  school  is  perfect,  it  will  better  hold 
its  constituency  in  health  and  in  culture.  This  would 
result  in  there  being  as  many,  or  almost  as  many,  in 
the  high  school  as  in  the  lower  schools.  To  whatever 
extent  it  is  not  perfect,  reduction  must  be  made  in  each 
succeeding  stage  of  work.  If  the  city  contains  more 
than  5,000  children— say  20,000— the  number  of  build- 
ings can  be  quadrupled.  If  the  number  is  a  fraction  of 


96 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


5,000,  the  quadrangles,  in  number  or  in  size,  can  be 
increased  or  diminished  proportionately. 

DESIGN  FOB  A    PLAY  SCHOOL  AND  ALSO  FOR 

A  PRIMARY  SCHOOL. 

56  School  Rooms— 24  Children  per  Room— Total,  1,344  Children. 
P  A  R  K\  P  A  R.K 


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Plan  capable  of  indefinite  expansion. 

A  building  of  this  design,  either  for  the  kinder- 
garten or  play  school,  or  for  the  elementary  (or  alpha- 
betic) school,  should  be  located  in  the  centre  of  a  sec- 
tion of  the  park,  the  section  containing  not  less  than 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  97 

ten  acres.  The  building  would  cover  an  area  372  feet 
by  380  feet.  If  the  courts  between  the  quadrangles 
could  be  greater,  it  would  be  all  the  better.  The  outer 
wall  of  each  quadrangle  is  solid  and  gives  a  definite 
boundary  to  the  more  valuable  school  property.  This 
outer  wall  is  of  glazed  brick  of  cream  colour,  and  is 
made  artistic  by  architectural  relief  and  a  covering  of 
vines.  For  the  clinging  of  the  vines  the  glazed  walls  in 
such  sections  should  be  trellised. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  plan  of  architecture  compre- 
hends an  inner  central  building,  surrounded  by  a  garden 
court  not  less  than  forty  feet  wide.  Around  this  inner 
court  is  the  first  school  quadrangle,  with  continuous 
corridor  or  colonnade  facing  inward.  Separated  by 
another  court,  also  forty  feet  wide  or  more,  is  the  sec- 
ond quadrangle  of  buildings,  with  corridor  or  colonnade 
also  facing  inward. 

The  school  rooms  are  approximately  28  by  32  feet, 
are  illuminated  from  overhead,  and  otherwise  finished, 
ventilated,  and  warmed  as  previously  described  in  this 
chapter.  The  school  rooms  have  their  convenient  ward- 
robes and  lavatories,  not  here  represented,  but  in  loca- 
tions elsewhere  suggested. 

The  school  rooms  look  out,  through  interior  win- 
dows and  doors,  on  the  broad  corridor,  and  command 
views  of  the  inner  gardens  and  vine-covered  walls  be- 
yond. During  the  winter  time  these  corridors  are  in- 
closed in  glass  and  make  the  winter  conservatories ;  but 
in  the  milder  months  they  are  open  and  constitute  con- 
tinuous colonnades. 

The  gardens  are  not  less  than  forty  feet  wide,  have 
their  broad  mid-walks  with  fountains  and  aquaria  at 


98  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

each  corner,  and  their  beds  for  culture  assigned  to  each 
class  and  pupil.  Here  and  there  are  statuary  and 
houses  for  pet  animals.  In  the  gardens  also  should  be 
abundant  places  for  and  invitations  to  the  birds  to 
build  their  nests.  Within  the  central  patio  or  garden 
court  is  the  large  stormy-day  play  room,  which,  in  the 
buildings  designed  for  older  pupils,  is  the  gymnasium, 
but  here  is  also  used,  as  occasions  may  require,  for  an 
auditorium  and  exhibition  hall.  The  administration 
offices  might  be  in  this  central  building. 

The  passages  from  building  to  building  are  through 
covered  pavilions  which  are  inclosed  in  winter  time. 
There  are  also  exits  at  other  points,  as  indicated  in  the 
design. 

This  design  omits  details  and  is  not  submitted  in 
hard-and-fast  lines,  but  merely  as  suggestion  for  adap- 
tation as  conditions  may  deem  advisable. 

The  diagonal  facing  of  the  building  permits  the 
sunshine  to  reach  all  the  gardens  and  every  corridor. 
The  rooms,  illuminated  from  above,  are  flooded  with 
light  almost  as  constant  and  abundant  as  that  of  the 
outer  world. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  rooms  are  all  of  one 
story  and  are  built  on  well-ventilated  and  warmed  arch- 
ways of  solid  masonry.  There  are  no  basement  rooms 
and  no  stairways. 

Without  the  building  is  the  park,  of  sloping  sward, 
forest  and  fruit  trees,  running  water,  pavilions,  play- 
grounds, gardens,  etc.  There  are  no  "  keep-off-the- 
grass  "  signs. 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  99 

DESIGN  FOR  GKAMMAR  SCHOOL  OR  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

The  quadrangle  architecture  is  also  designed  for  a 
school  of  older  pupils,  with  certain  modifications.  The 
inner  building  should  contain  gymnasiums,  instead  of 
play  room,  with  baths  and  swimming  pools  in  direct 
connection.  The  inner  building  also  should  contain  an 
ever-ready  auditorium,  smaller  lecture  rooms,  music 
room,  and  the  administration  offices. 

The  inner  quadrangle  might  face  outward  and  to- 
ward the  exterior  quadrangle.  This  would  transform 
the  inner  court  into  a  gymnasium  court,  where  the  pre- 
scribed physical  exercises  could  be  conducted  in  the  open 
air.  As  this  inner  court  would  then  be  surrounded  by 
solid  walls,  basket-ball  and  other  kindred  games  could 
here  be  immediately  under  the  eye  of  the  physical 
director;  although  still  better  fields  for  these  amuse- 
ments would  be  provided  in  the  school  park.  The  sec- 
ond court  might  well  be  wider  than  in  the  play  school, 
preferably  eighty  feet. 

The  central  building  also  should  be  crowned  with  an 
observatory  for  astronomical  and  meteorological  pur- 
poses, and  a  horticultural  hall  might  be  provided,  al- 
though this  latter  is  not  especially  advisable,  as  the 
inner  gardens  and  the  field  gardens  in  the  summer  and 
the  winter  corridors  present  abundant  opportunity  for 
plant  culture,  excepting  of  larger  tropical  forms. 

The  park  without  should  contain  larger  gardens  and 
playgrounds  for  team  work  and  free  exercises.  It  should 
also  have  its  well-directed  fields  for  applied  sciences  and 
constructive  exercises,  expressing  themselves  in  experi- 
mental agriculture,  electric  stations,  hydraulics,  kite- 


100  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

flying,  weather  bureaus,  house  construction,  bridge- 
building,  etc. 

"  I  admit,"  says  Dr.  Economist,  "  the  great  beauty 
and  desirability  of  a  school  so  located  and  constructed. 
It  would  return  the  school  to  its  legitimate  place  in  the 
field  of  Nature.  It  would  bless  the  children  with  .soil 
in  which  to  dig  and  plant,  with  animated  life  to  study, 
an  abundance  of  pure  air,  sunlight,  and  playground,  and 
a  hundred  other  desirable  things  denied  in  the  barren 
life  of  most  schools.  Undoubtedly  the  children  would 
enjoy  better  health  under  this  and  other  provisions 
which,  I  infer,  you  propose  to  further  present ;  but  that 
which  perplexes  me  is  how  you  are  going  to  give  such  a 
school  to  the  children  in  our  thickly  populated  cities." 

In  the  original  planning  of  a  city  the  first  thing  to 
be  thought  of  should  be  the  children  and  their  proper 
culture.  Adequate  school  premises  should  be  provided; 
and  tributary  to  these  should  be  all  the  other  industries 
of  life,  which  certainly  have  no  higher  purpose  in  man's 
ambition  than  to  confer  wealth  on  the  rising  generation. 
Why  should  there  not  be  in  every  city  a  broad  reserva- 
tion like  the  Executive  Park  in  the  city  of  Washington, 
or  like  the  Boston  Common,  or  the  City  Park  in  Albany, 
devoted  to  the  culture  of  children?  Or  what  other 
better  way  is  there  of  utilizing  our  present  city  parks 
for  the  higher  purposes  of  man?  Such  appropriation 
would  only  add  to  the  beauty  of  the  parks  themselves, 
and  would  make  them  none  the  less  the  pride  and 
enjoyment  of  the  people. 

But  the  founders  of  cities  are  not  always  so  far-see- 
ing or  economic  in  their  planning.  We  must  reconstruct 
the  city  as  it  is.  We  might  utilize  our  central  parks; 


GENERAL  PLAN  FOR  A  SCHOOL  COMMUNITY. 
5,000  pupils. 


s 

HIGH  SCHOOL  PARK 

FIELD 
SPORTS 

5    ACRES 

GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  PARK 

HIGH 
SCHOOL 

GRAMMAR 
SCHOOL 

10    ACRES 

10    ACRES 

GARDENS 
6    ACRES 

ADMIN- 
ISTRATION 

D 

Z]/z   ACRES 

GARDENS 
5    ACRES 

PRIMARY  SCHO-C 

PRIMARY 
SCHOOl 

L  PARK 

LAKE 
PARK 
AND 
GEOGRAPHIC 
WORLD 

6    ACRES 

PLAY  SCHOOL  PARK 

PLAY 
SCHOOL 

10    ACRES 

10    ACRES 

FRONT 

Suggestion  for  grouping  of  buildings  on  a  general  school  park. 
Plan  subject  to  modification  or  indefinite  expansion.  Each 
building  an  adaptation  of  design  presented  on  page  96,  ac- 
cording to  characteristic  purposes  of  the  play  school,  the 
primary  school,  the  grammar  school,  and  the  high  school. 
The  administration  building  could  contain  offices,  conference 
rooms,  normal  department,  general  library,  lecture  and  music 
hall,  heating  and  lighting  plant,  master  clock,  etc.  Trans- 
portation by  city  ownership  of  street  railways.  For  argu- 
ment and  specifications  see  Chapters  IV,  V,  VI,  and  VII. 

101 


102  AH   IDiSAL  SCHOOL. 

or,  batter  still,  we  could  choose  for  our  school  plant 
desirable  property  without  the  city  but  in  close  prox- 
imity. This  would  not  have  been  possible  a  few  years 
since;  but  in  this  day  of  electric-car  service  there  are 
no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  effective  operation.  The 
city,  by  municipal  ownership,  by  reservation  in  fran- 
chise or  by  contract,  could  well  afford  to  provide  this 
most  necessary  part  in  a  desirable  education.  If  the 
endowed  public-school  system  provided  by  private  enter- 
prise at  the  Jacob  Tome  Institute  can  thus  care  for,  as 
their  plans  contemplate,  two  thousand  pupils  by  the 
building  of  an  electric  railway,  certainly  the  State  or 
city  should  also  be  abundantly  able  to  provide  for 
its  own. 

With  the  school  so  far  removed  from  the  homes.,  how 
would  the  children  get  their  noonday  meal?  Would  it 
be  by  a  school  lunch? 

Yes,  but  a  much  better  lunch  than  that  furnished 
in  most  schools.  One  of  the  great  problems  in  the  cul- 
ture of  children  is  the  food  question.  How  shall  the 
children  receive  the  nutriment  demanded  by  the  stages 
of  their  growth  and  the  nature  of  their  work?  The 
school  dinner  is  a  perfectly  legitimate  part  of  the  child's 
culture.  The  school  should  also  issue  suggestions  to 
the  home  concerning  the  other  meals  and  related 
subjects. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  remarks  Mr.  Taxpayer,  "that 
the  plan  of  buildings  you  present,  with  their  parks  of 
from  ten  to  one  hundred  acres  or  more,  their  extended 
buildings  and  artistic  surroundings,  would  cost  a  great 
deal  of  money.  How  would  the  cost  of  such  a  school 
plant  compare  with  that  of  our  present  schools?" 


THE  SCHOOL  PLANT.  103 

The  increased  cost  would  not  be  so  much  as  it 
seems.  The  abandonment  of  valuable  school  property 
in  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  generally  in  locations  of 
great  desirability,  would  of  itself  go  far  toward  the 
purchase  of  the  school  parks  and  the  erection  of 
buildings.  Indeed,  in  many  instances,  it  would  more 
than  cover  the  entire  expenditure.  The  cost  of  an  ordi- 
nary building  is  greatly  increased  by  its  lofty  super- 
structure, and  sometimes  there  is  much  expended  in  the 
external  finish  of  a  building  which  is  not  at  all  desirable 
for  school  purposes.  The  transportation  difficulty,  to 
whatever  extent  it  presents  itself,  could  be  effected  by 
municipal  ownership  or  by  ordinance  just  as  well  as 
ordinary  transportation  can  be  reduced  in  fare  from 
five  to  three  cents.  The  cost  for  teachers,  increased  by 
i  eduction  of  schools  to  twenty-four  children,  which  is 
eminently  desirable,  and  by  the  employment  of  better 
teachers,  would  be  greater.  But,  after  all,  what  are  we 
living  for  if  not  for  our  children?  Why  does  the  wage- 
earner  toil  day  after  day,  and  the  capitalist  store  up  his 
money,  if  it  is  not  to  confer  wealth  upon  the  children? 
And  what  wealth  is  there  that  can  for  a  moment  be 
compared  with  glorious  health,  and  the  developing 
power  which  comes  from  a  well-trained  mind? 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    SCOPE    OF   THE   SCHOOL. 

A  PLANT,  located,  built,  and  furnished  as  has  been 
described,  would  equip  our  school  to  meet  the  full  mis- 
sion demanded  by  modern  life. 

Every  one  of  the  traditional  studies  would  be  en- 
riched by  an  opportunity  never  before  offered  by  the 
school.  The  losses  by  reversion  from  the  rural  life  to 
that  of  the  city  would  be  partly  overcome.  The  farm, 
with  its  many  lessons  from  Nature  and  its  many  trades 
and  occupations  possible,  would  be  rich  in  instructive 
exercises.  The  gardens  would  bring  back  the  forgotten 
touch  with  the  soil,  and  the  delights  of  animal  life 
would  awaken  new  human  interest. 

It  would  now  be  possible  to  group  pupils  more  ac- 
cor.ding  to  interests  and  abilities.  Then,  for  larger 
illustration  and  general  culture,  opportunities  for  use 
of  lantern  projection  or  for  gatherings  in  the  assembly 
hall  would  be  immediately  at  hand.  A  hundred  chil- 
dren, a  thousand  children  of  approximately  the  same 
age,  would  be  at  a  moment's  command  for  a  music 
exercise.  Scattered  in  their  cottage  quarters  in  the 
great  quadrangles,  the  pupils  might  all  be  at  individual 
work  with  space  and  group  separation  far  greater  than 
104 


THE  SCOPE  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  105 

in  the  usual  school;  but  yet  orderly  massing  of  large 
numbers  for  the  lecture,  the  concert  and  the  general 
exercise  would  be  always  at  command.  How  often  the 
superintendent  has  wished  to  meet  the  children  of  his 
entire  city,  grade  by  grade,  but  has  always  been  denied 
because  of  distances ! 

Here  also  would  be  opportunity  for  gymnasium  drill 
under  favourable  conditions,  and  for  return  to  the  old- 
time  recess  denied  the  child  of  the  modern  school.  The 
complete  bath  house  at  Brookline,  Mass.,  by  this  cen- 
tralization now  becomes  a  desirable  adjunct  easily  real- 
ized. But  still  greater  in  possibility  would  be  the  com- 
prehensive school  library  which  must  be  a  cardinal  fac- 
tor in  the  ideal  school. 

The  traditional  school  has  opened  its  doors  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  closed  them  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon.  In  the  cities  the  high-school  session 
has  been  even  shorter.  In  many  instances  the  closing  of 
the  school  has  been  hastened  to  catch  certain  cars ;  and 
in  a  moment  the  great  building  with  its  valuable  equip- 
ment is  silent  and  empty.  The  pupils  have  been  re- 
quired to  do  much  preparation  of  work  at  home,  fre- 
quently at  great  disadvantage  and  under  unfavourable 
circumstances. 

These  limited  hours  of  school  accessibility  were  all 
very  well  for  the  days  of  the  rural  school  when  the  con- 
stituency was  small  and  scattered;  but  the  conditions 
and  demands  of  modern  life  are  very  different.  Be- 
cause the  schools  have  been  largely  closed,  other 
agencies  have  been  rendered  necessary.  The  institu- 
tional church  and  the  various  societies  of  community 
improvement  have  been  called  upon  to  do  a  work  which 


106  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

properly  belongs  to  the  school.  The  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Union,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  the 
guilds  and  sodalities,  the  boys'  clubs  and  the  women's 
clubs,  have  been  performing  a  valuable  work  which  lies 
directly  in  the  province  of  the  public  school.  The  large 
and  prosperous  commercial  schools  in  our  cities  estab- 
lish also  the  fact  that  the  school  has  not  been  meeting 
its  entire  responsibility.*  Wherever  in  the  community 
there  is  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  desiring  educa- 
tional facilities,  right  then  and  there  is  the  mission  of 
the  school,  no  matter  what  the  age  or  the  attainment  of 
the  student  may  be.  This  opens  up  a  wide  field  of  use- 
fulness for  the  evening  school.  Almost  every  city, 
under  proper  organization,  can  gather  as  many  pupils 
in  the  evening  classes  as  in  the  higher  classes  of  the  day 
school.  With  the  generous  equipment  now  the  posses- 
sion of  the  average  school,  this  can  be  done  at  com- 
paratively small  cost;  and  under  the  plan  proposed  in 
our  centralized  plant  how  much  better  it  could  be  done! 
Not  only  the  evening  classes  for  investigation  and 
study  are  the  legitimate  work  of  the  public  schools,  but 
the  school  should  also  be  the  centre  for  all  kinds  of 
literary  endeavour.  The  literary  clubs  could  well  be 
furnished  their  places  of  meeting  in  close  proximity 
to  the  helpful  library;  and  they  should  be  directed  in 
their  endeavours.  Classes  in  the  afternoons  for  older 
persons — in  literature,  history,  science,  physical  culture, 

*  The  writer  has  official  information  to  show  that  a  single  cor- 
respondence school  in  the  United  States  pays  annually  over  $80,000 
in  postage,  to  which  might  be  added  a  similar  amount  for  return 
communications. 


THE  SCOPE  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  107 

art,  cooking,  and  sewing — would  be  a  very  valuable  part 
of  the  work.  The  directors  and  heads  of  departments 
and  of  the  great  library  could  suggest  and  perhaps  direct 
an  important  work  which  would  be  much  appreciated. 

Then  there  is  the  field  of  the  instructive  lecture. 
Practical  experiment  has  fully  demonstrated  that  popu- 
lar science  and  instruction,  presented  in  attractive  ways, 
will  reach  people  who  ordinarily  never  come  under  the 
influence  of  the  lecture.  The  whole  field  of  the  Chau- 
tauqua  movement  and  of  university  extension  is  full 
of  suggestion  for  the  development  of  this  important 
work  in  bringing  value  to  the  community.  The  school 
must  comprehend  the  community. 

An  annual  music  festival,  made  gloriously  possible 
by  the  centralization  of  schools,  art  exhibits,  the  pres- 
entation of  classic  music  by  great  artists,  the  illus- 
trated lecture  of  travel  and  science,  the  opportunity  of 
the  children  to  meet  and  to  hear  great  men  who  would 
be  attracted  to  such  a  school — all  of  these  would  be 
direct  possibilities. 

Then  there  is  the  vacation  school  for  children  de- 
siring to  escape  from  the  heat  of  the  city  and  to  be  en- 
gaged in  profitable  and  congenial  employment.  This 
would  maintain  the  care  of  the  gardens  during  the  sum- 
mer. The  work  of  Johnson  at  Andover,  in  particular, 
is  very  suggestive  for  what  could  be  done  on  this  great 
farm  school. 

The  very  fact  of  centralization  of  equipment  and 
the  gathering  of  experts,  as  will  be  later  described, 
would  open  up  a  field  of  high-school  extension  which 
should  be  occupied.  To  whatever  extent  deserving 
young  people,  who  can  not  go  away  for  their  education, 


108  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

need  opportunity  for  post-graduate  work,  they  should 
have  it.  Unquestionably  the  school  can  furnish  such 
instruction  cheaper  at  home  than  these  young  people 
can  get  it  by  going  away.  Whenever  in  a  school  of  this 
character  this  movement  grows  in  constituency  suffi- 
ciently to  take  the  place  of  the  college  it  will  be  the 
legitimate  province  of  the  public  school  to  perform  that 
function.  This  will  be  discussed  later  on. 

The  school,  then,  in  what  it  offers  should  compre- 
hend the  community.  Whatever  it  can  do  to  extend 
educational  opportunity  should  be  freely  given.  The 
doors  should  be,  practically,  always  open;  and  whoever 
knocks  at  the  temple  of  learning  should  find  a  most 
cordial  welcome. 

Ee-enforcing  the  work  of  the  superintendent  and 
teachers,  should  stand  the  well-organized  Education 
Society.  The  magnificent  work  which  has  been  done 
at  Brookline,  Mass.,  and  which  has  been  extending  it- 
self effectively  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
Newark,  N.  J.,  Princeton,  N.  J.,  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  Boston,  Mass.,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  New- 
ton, Mass.,  Northampton,  Mass.,  New  Bedford,  Mass., 
Barre,  Mass.,  Belmont,  Mass.,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.,  Den- 
ver, Colo.,  and  other  cities,  is  too  important  not  to  be 
utilized  in  support  of  the  larger  usefulness  of  the 
school.  Superintendent  Button  has  done  much  to  make 
his  Brookline  schools  famous;  but  the  crowning  master- 
piece of  his  useful  work  has  been  this  great  demonstra- 
tion of  how  the  forces  of  the  community  may  be  corre- 
lated for  effective  advance  work. 

This,  then,  outlines  the  larger  province  of  the  school, 
to  which  the  people  would  respond  with  great  apprecia- 


THE  SCOPE  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  109 

tion.  There  are  several  reasons  why  the  people  have 
sometimes  been  slow  in  furnishing  adequate  support 
to  the  schools  of  the  past.  First,  there  has  been  little 
opportunity  to  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  city 
school  work,  because  of  the  scattered  condition  of  the 
many  plants.  Second,  the  work  itself  has  been  of  lim- 
ited efficiency.  The  parent  has  been  annoyed  too  often 
by  the  doctrine  that  the  home  is  responsible  for  the 
teacher's  work.  Third,  the  school  has  not  extended  very 
generous  help  to  a  large  constituency  of  persons  who 
have  desired  earnest  educational  assistance  outside  the 
usual  hours  and  grades  and  curriculum  of  the  formal 
school.  The  school  has  been  too  limited  in  its  scope 
of  usefulness.  Fourth,  the  school-house  has  not  been, 
to  any  considerable  extent,  the  meeting  place  of  the 
people.  The  minister  owes  his  greater  influence  among 
his  people  over  that  wielded  by  the  superintendent,  and 
also  his  opportunity  to  be  better  understood,  largely  to 
the  fact  that  he  has  so  much  greater  opportunity  to 
come  in  contact  with  the  people,  to  gather  them  into  a 
responsive,  co-operating  working  body.  Every  gathering 
of  the  people  at  the  school-house  during  the  usual  school 
hours,  or  for  an  evening  lecture  or  entertainment,  is  an 
effective  movement  in  the  interests  of  better  schools.  It 
pays  to  bring  the  people  into  contact  with  school  influ- 
ences, be  it  only  in  gathering  them  together  for  some- 
thing of  value  or  enjoyment  in  the  school  hall.  The  sug- 
gestion of  the  school's  interests  by  the  school's  sur- 
roundings, the  democratic  feeling  of  being  an  integral 
part  of  the  work  itself,  and  the  exchange  of  appreciative 
remarks  with  others  in  the  same  school  gathering,  all 
foster  a  condition  of  personal  pride  and  co-operation 


110  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

that  is  very  helpful  in  the  making  of  an  advance  school. 
Indeed,  there  is  no  way  of  carrying  forward  progressive 
work  to  any  goodly  degree  of  leadership,  excepting  as 
the  forces  of  the  community  are  thus  co-ordinated. 

The  people  are  always  proud  of  a  good  school,  the 
purposes  of  which  they  can  see  and  realize.  The  cen- 
tralization of  all  the  schools  in  a  general  school  park 
would  be  an  effective  object-lesson  which,  re-enforced 
by  the  greater  usefulness  of  the  school  outside  older 
lines,  would  bring  the  school  interests  to  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  the  people.  Better  equipment  would  be 
supplied  because  its  application  would  be  seen.  Better 
teachers  would  be  furnished  because  the  adults  as  well 
as  the  children  would  gain  from  their  instruction.  Bet- 
ter official  representation  of  the  people  would  be  elected 
because  the  people  themselves  met  in  more  frequent  and 
intelligent  conferences  concerning  the  welfare  of  the 
school.  The  forces  of  the  community  must  be  corre- 
lated; the  school  must  be  more  comprehensive;  the 
school  plant  must  be  enriched  by  greater  centralization ; 
the  doors  must  be  open  to  "  whosoever  will  " ;  the  people 
must  meet  more  frequently  to  uphold  the  hands  of  their 
educational  leaders.  The  results  of  such  intelligent 
co-operation  in  a  democracy  can  be  only  one  thing: 
The  people  will  be  proud  of  their  schools  and  will  carry 
forward  the  work  as  has  never  yet  been  done  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. — Button's  Social  Phases  in  Education.  Scud- 
der's  The  Schoolhouse  as  a  Centre  (Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  Ixxvii). 
Search's  The  Larger  High  School,  dedication  of  the  Holyoke 
High  School  (School  Review,  April,  1900). 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   COURSE  OF   STUDY. 

"Of  all  subjects  calculated  to  call  forth  a  pupil's  own 
efforts,  those  which  give  him  something  to  do  have  the  prefer- 
ence over  those  which  merely  give  him  something  to  say.'* 
(Dr.  Andrew  Bell.) 

WHATEVER  may  be  the  general  thought  concerning 
the  feasibility  of  centralizing  all  the  schools  of  the  city 
in  a  general  park,  or  in  several  parks,  it  will  be  evident 
that  the  discussion  is  now  gradually  approaching  de- 
tails of  great  value  in  the  conduct  of  the  school.  The 
interest  of  teachers,  therefore,  will  be  especially  di- 
rected to  the  question  of  how  to  get  rid  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  course  of  study. 

Periods  of  Growth. — Probably  the  most  promising 
contribution  of  child-study  to  the  building  of  the  better 
school  is  coming  from  the  discovery  that  the  growth 
of  the  child  is  not  one  of  uninterrupted  progression. 
Great  stages  or  periods  of  growth,  widely  differing  from 
each  other  in  character,  are  characteristic  of  the  phys- 
ical development  from  the  cradle  to  manhood.  Attend- 
ant upon  these  stages  are  certain  nascent  periods  of 
budding  forth,  which  determine  studies  best  calculated 

111 


112  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

for  mind  culture  and  the  times  of  easiest  accon> 
plishment.* 

The  first  five  years  are  characterized,  in  particular, 
by  being  the  period  of  the  most  rapid  brain  growth. 
The  brain  gains  nearly  all  its  growth  in  the  first  seven 
years,  and  practically  reaches  its  full  maturity  in  size  \ 
at  the  age  of  eight  or  nine.  The  very  fact  that  this  is 
the  period  when  the  energies  of  life  are  largely  centred 
in  the  storage  of  brain  growth  for  the  demands  of  later 
years,  renders  it  highly  important  that  the  early  life 
should  be  a  life  of  freedom,  with  little  to  arrest  the 
maturity  of  growth,  which  conditions  so  much  to  come. 
It  is  said  that  the  child  born  with  a  large  head  is  more 
likely  to  live.  So,  also,  the  child  who  has  the  oppor- 
tunity in  his  first  seven  or  eight  years  for  unarrested 
brain  growth  is  safest  for  all  the  nerve  strain  that  is 
to  follow.  This  period,  therefore,  must  be  characterized 
by  opportunity  for  rapid  brain  growth,  nourishing  food, 
abundance  of  sleep,  plenty  of  free  movement  and  play, 
and  little  demand  upon  the  higher  and  finer  brain  areas, 
which  do  not  develop  so  soon  as  the  larger  ones. 

The  study  of  the  heights  of  school  children  leads 
to  some  very  serious  reflections.  Says  Burk:  J 

"  Between  six  and  seven  years  of  age  the  American 
child  measures  about  44  or  45  inches.  This  is  an  in- 
crease of  24  to  25  inches  for  the  first  six  years  of  life. 

*  E.  B.  Bryan's  Nascent  Periods.  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Oc- 
tober, 1900. 

t  Donaldson's  Growth  of  the  Brain,  p.  104. 

J  Burk's  From  Fundamental  to  Accessory  in  the  Develop- 
ment of  the  Nervous  System.  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  vi,  pp. 
5-64. 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  113 

...  At  twelve  years  of  age  American  boys  are  on  the 
average  about  55  inches  in  height,  an  increase  of  10  or 
11  inches  for  the  six  preceding  years.  .  .  .  Until  ten  to 
twelve  years  there  is  no  material  difference  in  the 
heights  of  the  sexes ;  but,  during  these  two  years,  vary- 
ing with  localities,  the  girls  grow  faster  than  the  boys, 
and  for  two  or  three  years  following  are  actually  taller. 
During  the  fourteenth  or  fifteenth  year  the  rate  mate- 
rially slackens,  and  though  the  girls  grow  slowly  for 
two  or  three  years  longer,  they  have  practically  com- 
pleted their  growth  in  height,  generally  at  the  age  of 
fifteen.  The  period  of  accelerated  growth  in  height  in 
the  case  of  boys  begins  during  the  period  of  twelve  to 
fourteen,  as  a  rule.  They  overtake  the  girls  usually 
in  the  fifteenth  year,  and  by  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
year  or  later  their  period  of  accelerated  rate  ends. 
...  At  the  eleventh  year  or  thereabouts  there  is 
no  material  difference  in  the  heights  of  the  two 
sexes." 

Dr.  Bowditch  found  that  at  twelve  and  a  half 
years,  girls,  as  a  rule,  begin  to  grow  faster  than  boys, 
and  during  the  fourteenth  year  are  about  one  inch  taller 
than  boys  of  the  same  age.  At  fourteen  and  a  half 
years  boys  again  become  taller  and  continue  to  grow 
until  nineteen.  Girls  have  nearly  completed  their 
growth  at  fourteen  and  a  half. 

By  these  references  it  will  be  noted  that  the  most 
rapid  growth  of  boys  is  between  fourteen  and  sixteen, 
and  of  girls  somewhat  earlier.  The  wide  variations 
in  growth  will  be  referred  to  later  on.  These  periods 
or  stages  in  average  growth  will  be  readily  apparent 
from  a  study  of  the  tables  on  pages  114  and  115: 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL, 


Dr.  BowditcWs  Table,  showing  Average  Heights  and  Weights  of 
Boston  School  Children  of  American  Parentage.  Heights 
taken  without  Shoes;  Weight  in  Ordinary  Dress* 


AGE  LAST  BIRTHDAY. 

BOYS. 

GIRLS. 

Inches. 

Pounds. 

Inches. 

Pounds. 

5  years  

41.74 
44.10 
46.21 
48.16 
50.09 
52.21 
54.01 
55.78 
58.17 
61.08 
62.96 
65.58 
66.29 
66.76 

41.20 
45.14 
49.47 
54.43 
59.97 
66.62 
72.39 
79.82 
88.26 
99.28 
110.84 
123.67 
128.72 
132.71 

41.47 
43.66 
45.94 
48.07 
49.61 
51.78 
53.79 
57.16 
58.75 
60.32 
61.39 
61.72 
61  99 
62.01 

39.82 
43.81 
48.02 
52.93 
57.52 
64.09 
70.26 
81.35 
91.18 
100.32 
108.42 
112.97 
115.84 
115.88 

7    " 

8    "     ... 

9    "     

10    "     

11    "      . 

12    "     . 

13    "     

14    "     

15    "     ... 

16    "     . 

17    "     

18    "     

Annual  Average  Increases  in  Height  and  Weight.    (Warner, 
after  Bowditch.)  f 


BO 

YS. 

GIF 

LS. 

AGE  LAST  BIRTHDAY. 

Inches. 

Pounds. 

Inches. 

Pounds. 

5  years  

6           

2.36 

3.94 

2.19 

3.99 

7 

2  11 

4  33 

2.28 

4.21 

8           

1.95 

4.96 

2.13 

4.91 

9           

1.93 

5.54 

1.54 

4.59 

10           

2.12 

6.65 

2.17 

6.57 

11           

1.80 

5.77 

2.01 

6.17 

12           

1.77 

7.43 

3.37 

11.09 

13           

2.39 

8.44 

1.59 

9.83 

14           

2.91 

11.02 

1.57 

9.14 

15    «      

1  88 

11.56 

1.07 

8.10 

16    "     

2.62 

12.83 

.33 

4.55 

17    «     

.71 

5.05 

.27 

2.87 

18    " 

47 

3  99 

.02 

.04 

*  Warner's  Study  of  Children,  p.  31.         f  Ibid->  P- 


TEE  COURSE  OF  STUDY. 


115 


Average  Weight  of  the  Brain  of  Children  in  Ounces,  Avoirdupois. 
(After  Dr.  Boyd,  as  observed  by  him  in  2,030  Cases,  London.}  * 


AGE. 

Males. 

Females. 

Newborn  

11.67 

10.00 

17.42 

15.94 

21.80 

19.76 

From  6  to  12  months 

27  40 

25  70 

From  1  to  2  years 

33  25 

29.80 

From  2  to  4  years  

38.70 

34.97 

From  4  to  6  years.  

40.23 

40.11 

45.96 

40.78 

From  14  to  20  vears.  . 

48.54 

43.94 

Increase  in  Brain  Weight  with  Age  in  Grammes.    Encephalon 
weighed  entire  with  Pia.     ( Vierordt.)  f 


A  PTT 

HAL 

ES. 

FEMJ 

LLES. 

No.  of  cases. 

Brain. 

Brain. 

No.  of  cases. 

0  months  

36 

381 

384 

38 

1  year  

17 

945 

872 

11 

2  years 

27 

1025 

961 

28 

3     "     

19 

1  108 

1040 

23 

4     "     

19 

1  330 

1,139 

13 

5     "     

16 

1,263 

1,221 

19 

6     "     

10 

1,359 

1,265 

10 

7     " 

14 

1  348 

1  296 

8 

8     " 

4 

1377 

1150 

9 

9     «     

3 

1,425 

1,243 

1 

10     "     

8 

1,408 

1,284 

4 

11     "     

7 

1,360 

1,238 

1 

12     "     

5 

1,416 

1,245 

2 

13     "     

8 

1,487 

1,256 

3 

14     ". 

12 

1  289 

1345 

5 

15     "     

3 

1,490 

1,238 

8 

16     "     

7 

1,435 

1,273 

15 

17     "     

15 

1,409 

1,237 

18 

18     "     

18 

1,421 

1,325 

21 

19     "     

21 

1,397 

1,234 

15 

20     "     

14 

1,445 

1,228 

33 

21     "     .    . 

29 

1,412 

1,320 

31 

22     "     . 

26 

1,348 

1,283 

16 

23     "     

22 

1,397 

1,278 

26 

24     "     

30 

1,424 

1,249 

33 

25     "     . 

25 

1  431 

1,224 

33 

*  Warner's  Study  of  Children,  p.  33. 

f  Donaldson's  Growth  of  the  Brain,  p.  104. 


116 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


A  GENERAL  COURSE 

Subject  to  Individual 


Approximate 
ages. 

Stages  of  growth. 

Classification  of 
school. 

Characteristic 
purpose. 

23,  24,  25  .  . 

Specialization. 

University. 

Professional 
training. 

21  22 

Transiti  on  nl 

The  world 

Choice  of 

vocation. 

18,  19,  20  .  . 

Early  manhood 
and  womanhood. 

College. 

General  culture. 

15,  16,  17  .  . 

Early  adoles- 
cence. 

Gymnasium  or 
high  school. 

Exercise  and 
application. 

14*  

Reconstruction  . 

Accommodation. 

11,  12,  13  .  . 

Full  childhood. 

Intermediate  or 
all-round  school. 

General  survey 
and  skill. 

8,  9,  10  .... 

Middle 
childhood. 

Elementary  or 
alphabetic 
school. 

Acquisition  of 
tools. 

5,  6,  7    . 

Rapid 

Play  school. 

Freedom. 

brain  growth. 

*  A  reading  of  the  context  is  essential  to  an  understanding 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY. 


117 


OF    STUDY. 

Variations. 


Sociologistic 
principle. 

Studies  or  media. 

Adaptation 
to  distinctive 
mission. 

Life  work. 

Finding 
mission. 

Business,  society,  travel,  investigation. 

Altruism. 

Sciences,                 Mathematics,        Gymnastics. 
Languages,             Economics,           Music, 
Humanities,           Industries,            Art. 
Belles-lettres, 

Convictions. 

Science,                                 Design, 
Grammar,                             Creation, 
Latin,  Greek,                        Gymnastics, 
French  and  German,           Play, 
Literature,                            Music, 
History,                                 Art. 
Algebra,  Geometry, 

Relaxation  in  school. 

*  Summer  in  country,  in  camp,  or  on  seashore. 
Winter  in  semi-tropical  regions. 

Helpfulness. 

Nature,                       History,            Invention, 
Geography,                 Literature,        Industries, 
Language,                  Arithmetic,       Gymnastics, 
German  and  French,  Geometry,         Play, 
Drawing,                    Mechanics,        Music. 

Self-control. 

Nature,                   Historical  Narrative, 
Drawing,                 Literary  Gems, 
Language,              Form  and  Numbers. 
French,                  Construction, 
Writing,                 Play, 
Reading,                Music. 

Beauty  of 
harmony. 

Nature,                       Drawing,                      Play, 
Mother  Tongue,        Myth,                           Song. 
Picture  Reading,       Construction. 

of  the  distinctive  bearings  of  this  variable  course  of  study. 


118  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

A  plan  of  school  work  should  be  determined  largely 
by  the  characteristic  phenomena  of  fundamental  nas- 
cent periods  of  groups  and  of  individuals;  and  to  that 
extent  it  may  contain  a  general  time  element;  that  is, 
it  may  base  its  proper  work  upon  exercises  appropriate 
to  the  various  stages  of  growth;  but  no  given  portion 
of  time  should  ever  have  assigned  to  it  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  definite  amount  of  work.  School  work  should 
be  full  of  opportunities  for  omissions,  for  short-cuts, 
and  for  changes  in  character  of  exercise.  The  best 
studies  are  not  those  which  require  identical  proce- 
dure. 

Eecognising,  therefore,  the  value  of  years  as  ap- 
proximately representative  of  certain  stages  of  growth, 
with  constant  variation  for  adaptation  to  sex  and  indi- 
viduals, the  classification  of  schools  on  pages  116  and 
117  is  offered,  with  illustrations  to  follow  in  subsequent 
chapters,  to  take  the  place  of  the  graded  course  of  study 
as  generally  constituted. 

THE  PLAY  SCHOOL. 

The  play  school  is  for  children  of  years  approxi- 
mately five,  six,  and  seven.  The  characteristics  of  this 
stage  of  growth  are  rapid  development  in  the  size  of 
the  brain,  the  need  of  proper  nutrition,  and,  at  more 
frequent  intervals  (possibly  five  meals  per  day),  little 
exacting  work,  an  abundance  of  free  movement,  plenty 
of  play  in  sunshine  and  pure  air,  and  twelve  hours 
per  day  for  sleep.  It  is  also  the  time  for  observation, 
for  imitation  and  for  story-hearing.  The  child  comes 
in  contact  with  the  beauty  of  the  law  as  unconsciously 
presented  to  him  in  his  relations  to  others.  His  act 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  119 

may  spoil  the  harmony  of  perfect  concord,  may  be  the 
one  blot  on  the  perfect  picture,  may  bring  unhappiness 
to  others.  The  beauty  of  the  perfect  law,  not  its  maj- 
esty, therefore,  appeals  to  him ;  and  he  gradually  places 
his  life  in  harmony  with  the  welfare  of  others  and  thus 
finds  himself  an  integral  contributor  toward  good  gov- 
ernment. 

The  exercises  of  the  play  school  are  Nature  study, 
bringing  the  child  into  contact  with  life  and  associat- 
ing him  with  its  care  and  culture;  story-hearing  as  he 
sits  at  the  feet  of  the  story-teller  and  drinks  in  the 
wealth  of  myth  and  representative  story;  mother 
tongue,  through  his  own  telling  of  stories  heard,  things 
observed  and  personal  experiences,  through  contribu- 
tion to  the  children's  group,  and  by  imitation  of  the 
teacher  story-teller;  picture-reading,  his  only  reading 
from  the  printed  page;  construction,  embodying  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  exercises  of  the  kindergarten  and 
reaching  out  after  larger  and  higher  forms ;  games,  full 
of  life  and  romp  and  spontaneity;  art  or  drawing,  the 
child's  own  representation  of  stories  heard,  things  seen 
or  to  be  constructed;  and  song,  not  through  character 
representation,  but  pure  song  itself. 

Would  you  have  no  reading  or  writing  "before  the 
age  of  eight  years? 

I  would  have  neither  of  these  exercises  in  the  play 
school  during  this  stage  of  rapid  brain  growth.  Read- 
ing, as  has  already  been  said,  is  an  exercise  of  passive 
attention,  full  of  abstraction  and  difficulty,  which 
largely  disappear  when  it  is  reserved  for  a  time  when 
strength  and  concept  unite  to  make  it  easy,  and  its  re- 
sults are  very  meagre.  Besides,  at  this  tender  age,  the 
10 


120  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

bending  of  the  child  over  a  book  and  the  confinement  of 
vision  to  the  close-at-hand  page  before  he  is  able  to 
handle  himself  properly,  are  both  to  be  avoided.  There 
comes  a  time  in  the  later  development  of  the  child  when 
there  seems  to  be  a  budding  forth  of  literary  ability 
which  makes  learning  to  read  easy  and  quick  of  accom- 
plishment. Writing  and  other  fine  and  exact  work  are 
also  objectionable  at  this  period,  and  should  be  deferred 
until  the  smaller  areas  of  the  brain  begin  to  be  devel- 
oped. The  young  child  should  deal  more  with  wholes 
and  larger  movements. 

Is  it  ever  advisable  that  a  child  of  this  age  should 
begin  piano  practice?  Is  it  not  claimed  that  the  skilled 
musician  is  the  one  who  begins  technical  drill  of  the 
fingers  in  early  childhood? 

Most  emphatically  there  should  be  no  piano  practice 
at  this  age.  The  brain  must  reacji,  during  this  period, 
practically  its  full  maturity  in  size,  and,  therefore,  must 
have  the  whole  strength  of  its  energies  expended  in 
growth.  Attention  to  exercises  of  the  finer  muscles 
leads  to  arrest  of  brain  growth  and  to  many  nervous  dis- 
eases which  afflict  the  child  for  life.  It  is  cruel  to  con- 
fine a  child  of  this  age  to  an  exercise  like  piano  drill, 
when  all  the  activities  of  the  body  and  mind  call  for 
freedom. 

How  will  you  occupy  the  child's  time?  Admitting 
that  reading  and  writing  have  been  largely  unprofitable 
studies  for  young  children,  what  can  be  offered  as  their 
substitute  in  the  school? 

The  consideration  of  this  question  in  the  past  has 
been  one  of  great  difficulty  because  of  the  point  which 
has  just  been  raised;  but  we  are  now  coming  to  its  solu- 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  121 

tion.  The  scheme  of  Nature  study  which  has  been 
worked  out  so  admirably  by  Dr.  Hodge  *  at  Clark  Uni- 
versity, and  in  his  writings,  and  which  is  now  finding 
its  way  with  such  enriching  results  into  the  schools  of 
Worcester,  Mass.,  and  elsewhere,  opens  up  an  unlimited 
field  of  opportunity.  This  question  of  Nature  study  will 
be  treated  more  fully  in  our  discussion  of  the  methods 
of  the  school.  Then  there  is  the  great  and  fruitful 
revelation  of  the  story-teller,  who  is  the  person  above 
all  others  to  be  prized  in  the  education  of  the  young — 
how  enormously  this  field  can  be  developed !  The  kin- 
dergarten has  never  experienced  difficulty  in  filling  the 
day,  and  the  development  of  its  higher  exercises  and 
their  application  in  construction  will  contribute  a  great 
factor.  Then  the  play  exercises  which  Superintendent 
Johnson  has  been  working  out  so  admirably  in  his 
school  at  Andover  are  full  of  suggestion  for  immediate 
utilization.  There  is  an  abundance  of  material  with 
which  to  fill  even  the  longest  day. 

"  Would  not  the  child  lose  greatly,"  says  some  am- 
bitious mother,  "  by  thus  omitting  all  technical  training 
until  he  is  eight  years  old?  " 

It  is  the  gradation  of  the  school  and  not  the  loss 
of  time  by  the  child  which  makes  this  matter  serious. 
If  the  child  is  given  opportunity,  he  will  readily  recover 
his  place  with  children  of  his  own  age,  and  beyond  that 
his  interest  is  keener  and  his  progress  more  substantial. 

Says  Dr.  G.  W.  Fitz:  f 

"  Experience  has  shown  over  and  over  again  that  the 

*  Dr.  C.  F.  Hodge.    Nature  Study  and  Life, 
f  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  Iv,  p.  429. 


122  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

child  who  begins  to  read  at  eight  or  even  ten  years  of 
age  is  in  no  wise  handicapped  in  his  later  intellectual 
progress.  He  has  the  inestimable  advantage  of  intense 
interest  roused  by  his  growing  ability  to  unlock  the  se- 
crets of  books  and  papers  after  the  fashion  of  his  elders. 
.  .  .  Writing  is  taught  before  the  child  has  acquired  the 
art  of  fine  co-ordination,  and  the  effort  demanded  in 
the  use  of  the  pen  '  leads  to  a  degree  of  nervous  ex- 
haustion unapproached  by  any  other  school  work/  .  .  . 
Much  of  the  aversion  to  arithmetical  problems  found 
later  is  undoubtedly  due  to  this  disheartening  primary 
work.  Here,  again,  the  child  who  begins  arithmetic  at 
eight  or  ten  years  of  age  finds  himself  able  to  take  it 
up  quickly  and  has  the  liking  for  it  that  easy  mastery 
always  gives  .  .  .  Nature  work,  on  the  other  hand, 
offers  wonderfully  interesting  and  valuable  material 
for  awakening  the  intellectual  activities  of  childhood; 
and  while  its  material  for  study  and  description  is  un- 
limited, its  demand  upon  the  child  may  be  perfectly 
adapted  to  his  power  of  observation.  We  must  remem- 
ber that  physical  activity  is  the  supreme  factor  in  the 
development  of  a  child." 

What  should  be  the  hours  of  this  play  school? 
Would  you  have  single  or  double  sessions? 

Under  the  form  of  organization  recommended  that 
is  really  a  very  immaterial  consideration.  By  the  pres- 
ent plan  of  schools,  which  confines  the  young  child  and 
expends  his  time  in  abstract,  technical,  and  exacting 
exercise,  the  time  should  never  be  more  than  half  a 
day.  Indeed,  two  hours  is  all  a  child  of  this  age  should 
be  confined  for  a  day.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  our  ideal  school  contemplates  a  school  of  great 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  123 

freedom  and  naturalness.  It  has  its  gardens  and  park 
for  summer  and  its  flower  corridors  for  winter;  its 
ample  play  room  for  winter  and  extended  playgrounds 
for  summer.  Much  even  of  the  constructive  exercises 
can  be  out  of  doors,  while  within  the  child  still  lives 
in  a  room  of  perfect  illumination.  The  story-telling 
of  the  teacher  lends  itself  as  well  to  the  group  under 
the  trees  as  to  that  in  the  house.  All  the  movements  of 
the  children  take  on  all  the  naturalness  of  the  home. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  matters  not  whether  the 
school  is  one  of  single  session  or  double  session;  but 
with  our  ideal  park  and  gardens  and  attractive  build- 
ings for  the  gathering  of  the  children,  it  would  natu- 
rally be  a  place  where  they  would  spend  a  good  part  of 
the  day.  It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  the  child  as  it 
is  of  the  teacher ;  but  in  our  play  school  the  work  is  not 
so  exacting,  and  it  is  not  so  necessary  that  the  same 
teacher  should  carry  all  the  work  of  the  school. 

Supposing  that  your  ideal  plant  could  not  be  ob- 
tained, what  do  you  think  should  be  the  discipline  of 
the  primary  school  as  at  present  organized? 

There  is  no  reason  why  the  discipline  should  be 
rigid  even  in  that  case.  The  child  has  a  divine  right 
to  a  life  of  activity.  If  he  wants  to  stand  up  or  to 
sit  down,  the  privilege  should  be  his.  If  he  wishes  to 
leave  the  room  because  of  physical  necessity,  that  is 
his  business  and  not  the  teacher's.  In  his  movements 
to  and  from  the  class  he  must  be  natural.  I  was  very 
much  interested  in  visiting  a  school  in  Denver,  to 
hear  the  enterprising  teacher  say  she  had  discov- 
ered the  natural  way  for  a  young  child  to  move  was 
not  to  walk,  but  to  scamper.  Here  was  a  school 


124  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

where,  when  the  group  around  the  desk  was  ready  to 
return  to  their  seats,  the  teacher  gave  a  signal,  and 
away  they  all  scampered  and  another  class  came  run- 
ning forward  in  the  same  way.  The  children  had  been 
accustomed  to  this  exercise  and  not  in  the  least  did 
it  seem  to  disturb  the  happy  working  discipline  of  the 
room.  But  even  if  it  did,  little  would  be  lost  by  break- 
ing up  the  painful  passivity  and  monotony  of  most 
primary  schools. 

How  many  children  to  the  teacher  would  be  con- 
templated in  this  ideal  school? 

Twenty-four.  This  is  far  too  many  in  the  present 
school  where  the  teacher  is  to  attempt  the  impossible 
task  of  bringing  full  activity  to  every  child  in  the  room 
in  reading  and  kindred  abstractions;  but  the  teacher  in 
our  play  school  can  handle  that  number  very  well,  for 
she  becomes  their  leader  and  director  rather  than  the 
hearer  of  lessons. 

Did  you  ever  see  a  school  where  Nature  was  thus 
made  the  basic  study? 

Miss  Dennis's  walking  school  at  Chautauqua,  N.  Y., 
conducted  with  great  success  during  several  sum- 
mers in  the  eighties,  was  a  fine  illustration  of  what 
could  be  done  in  this  way.  The  Upsala  School  at 
Worcester,  Mass.,  and  Madame  Claverie's  transitional 
school  in  her  beautiful  Casa  de  Eosas,  at  Los  Angeles, 
are  both  notable  examples  full  of  suggestion.  Kefer- 
ence  to  this  work  will  again  be  made,  with  fuller  de- 
scription, in  the  discussion  of  studies. 

Would  this  plan  do  away  with  the  kindergarten? 

By  no  means.  The  kindergarten  has  been  the  leaven 
that  has  been  transforming  all  elementary  education. 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  125 

Froebel  is  the  only  man  who  ever  made  a  complete  plan 
of  education  out  of  whole  cloth.  The  work  which  has 
been  begun  so  well  in  the  infant-room  has  been  reach- 
ing its  way  upward  and  is  enriching  the  entire  educa- 
tional fabric.  Our  play  school  is  the  expanded  kinder- 
garten; and  as  it  deals  with  children  of  older  age  it 
must  take  on  higher  character.  Exercises  in  colour  and 
form,  modelling,  paper-folding  and  cutting,  stick-lay- 
ing, visualizing,  larger  mat  and  basket  weaving,  repre- 
sentative games,  etc.,  are  all  full  of  great  possibilities. 
Certainly  the  kindergarten  must  abandon  its  finer  work, 
and  this  it  is  now  doing.  For  building  purposes  nothing 
is  of  higher  value  than  several  hundred  building  blocks 
the  size  of  bricks,  or,  for  exact  building,  2  inches  by 
4  inches  by  8  inches.  The  larger  portion  should  be 
of  full  size,  a  great  many  of  half  bricks,  and  some 
half  bricks  should  be  cut  diagonally  through  the  oblong 
sides,  to  make  triangular  forms  for  gabled  roofs.  With 
a  quantity  of  blocks  of  these  sizes  in  the  school  or  the 
home  there  is  no  end  to  the  magnificent  structures  and 
transformations  which  the  children  will  make  in  ex- 
pression of  their  genius.  Such  an  outfit,  in  a  play  room 
in  the  writer's  own  home,  has  been  the  gathering  place 
and  endless  enjoyment  of  the  children  of  a  whole  neigh- 
bourhood. Then  there  is  the  building  of  veritable 
houses  under  the  teacher's  direction,  of  mills  on  the 
water  stream,  and  other  creations  of  the  opportunity- 
given  child.  It  should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that 
the  child  at  this  age  delights  in  cruder  forms.  To  him 
a  shaped  board  with  a  string  is  a  boat;  a  very  simple 
structure  becomes  a  sled ;  and  there  is  more  pleasure  in 
a  rude  pencil  sketch  than  in  the  finished  picture  in  the 


126  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

book.    The  complicated  toy  and  the  detailed  representa- 
tion belong  to  a  later  age. 

Your  play  school  provides  for  children  of  ages  five, 
six,  and  seven,  or  approximately  so.  Would  you  have 
no  schooling  for  children  below  the  age  of  five? 

I  look  with  great  reluctance  on  any  necessity  which 
separates  the  mother  and  the  child  during  the  first 
four  or  five  years  of  the  child's  life,  and  with  still  greater 
reluctance  to  any  procedure  which  shuts  the  young 
child  up  in  a  house.  If  our  homes  were  ideal,  I  would 
say  the  home  garden,  where  the  mother  trains  her  child, 
is  a  sacred  place  not  to  be  given  up  for  anything  the 
school  can  offer;  but  if  the  home  conditions  are  not 
ideal,  if  the  child  is  to  be  passed  over  to  the  attendant, 
or  if  he  is  to  live  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  thousand 
vexations  which  some  way  characterize  so  much  of 
every-day  life,  or  if  he  is  to  be  shut  up  in  quarters 
where  the  conditions  are  less  hygienic  than  the  school, 
then  I  am  sure  the  infant  school  is  preferable.  How- 
ever, the  growing  interest  which  mothers  are  taking  in 
practical  child-study,  as  evidenced  in  the  formation  of 
mothers'  clubs,  mothers'  councils,  etc.,  is  prophetic  of 
the  day  when  the  average  mother  will  be  better  pre- 
pared for,  and  more  delighted  in,  the  culture  of  her 
own  children.  The  mother  owes  that  to  her  child  which 
no  teacher  can  ever  offer.  As  Beecher  has  said,  "  Every 
mother  is  a  priestess  ordained  of  God." 

Mr.  Taxpayer  here  interposes  an  objection: 

Your  school  seems  to  require  that  the  number  of 
pupils  to  the  'teacher  should  be  reduced  to  twenty-four. 
Would  not  this  cost  a  great  deal  of  money® 

This  reduction  is  made  even  now  in  our  kindergar- 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  127 

tens.  It  is  also  done  in  nearly  all  of  our  high  schools 
and  in  many  of  our  higher  grammar  grades.  The  num- 
ber of  pupils  to  the  class  is  very  much  less  than  that 
in  certain  branches.  It  is,  therefore,  only  a  question 
of  justice  to  all,  of  carrying  the.  same  policy  into  other 
schools.  Besides,  it  is  not  a  question  of  how  much 
does  it  cost,  but  of  how  much  more  can  the  child  get 
out  of  the  school.  As  I  have  said  before,  what  are 
we  living  for,  if  not  for  our  children? 

"  You  think,  then/'  remarks  some  interested  edu- 
cator, "  that  the  plan  of  deferring  a  child's  formal  train- 
ing until  he  is  approximately  eight  years  of  age  is 
fully  practicable,  and  that  there  will  be  sufficient  subject- 
matter  to  occupy  his  time  in  the  play  school?" 

It  is  perfectly  practicable.  The  time  of  a  child 
always  has  been  fully  occupied  by  the  school,  and  prob- 
ably always  will  be.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that  the 
child  should  have  opportunity  for  free  growth  at  this 
time.  Says  G.  T.  W.  Patrick:  *  "The  period  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  ten  years  is  an  important  one  in 
the  child  life.  It  is  the  time  when  the  "let-alone" 
plan  of  education  is  of  most  value,  for  the  reason  that 
nearly  all  our  educational  devices  beyond  the  kinder- 
garten are  more  or  less  attempts  to  make  men  and 
women  out  of  children.  If  the  child  at  this  age  must 
be  put  into  the  harness  of  an  educational  system,  his 
course  of  study  will  not  be  impoverished  by  the  omis- 
sions  of  reading  and  writing.  To  teach  him  to  speak 
and  to  listen,  to  observe  and  to  remember,  to  know 
something  of  the  world  around  him,  and  instinctively 

.  *  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  Iv,  p.  392. 


128  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

to  do  the  right  thing,  will  furnish  more  than  enough 
material  for  the  most  ambitious  elementary  curricu- 
lum." 

THE  ELEMENTARY  OR  ALPHABETIC  SCHOOL. 

I  am  ready  to  admit  there  must  come  a  time  in 
the  life  of  the  child  when  he  should  become  acquainted 
with  the  alphabets  of  learning,  and  acquire  skill  in  the 
handling  of  certain  tools  on  which  his  later  advance- 
ment is  more  or  less  conditioned.  The  best  time  for 
this  is  during  the  ages  eight,  nine,  and  ten.  The  brain 
has  now  approximately  completed  its  growth;  the 
period  is  one  of  fairly  constant  increase  in  height  and 
weight;  the  smaller  brain  areas  are  being  developed; 
the  body  takes  on  a  grace  not  possible  before ;  the  mem- 
ory is  not  charged  with  the  conflicting  impressions  of 
later  years;  language  becomes  easy;  there  is  a  grow- 
ing tendency  toward  details,  analyses,  and  invention; 
a  care  for  property  rights  and  a  regard  for  the  happi- 
ness of  others  have  been  engendered;  and  the  whole 
child  is  rapidly  passing  from  the  realm  of  pure  per- 
cept to  a  growth  where  the  concept  is  becoming  more 
characteristic.  It  is  a  time  when  the  child  is  rapidly 
adjusting  himself  to  environment;  and,  therefore,  it 
may  be  characterized  as  the  period  of  nascent  self- 
control. 

In  this  elementary  or  alphabetic  school  the  child 
should  still  have  Nature  as  the  great  basic  study  of 
the  entire  period.  Drawing  is  still  taught  as  a  means 
of  expression.  His  language,  through  imitation  and 
from  the  more  abounding  concept,  now  seeks  by  its 
own  nature  a  written  representation.  By  recognition 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  129 

of  the  form  of  words,  taught  on  the  crayon  board  and 
by  selection  from  placard  or  crayon-board  vocabularies 
which  grow  with  the  addition  of  new  words,  the  child 
by  imitation  begins  to  be  a  writer  of  words.  The  writ- 
ing of  language  leads  directly  to  its  reading;  and  thus 
the  child  gets  his  knowledge  of  the  alphabets  of  literary 
composition  at  a  time  needed  by  the  processes  of  Na- 
ture. To  him  reading  is  now  intelligible  from  the  start ; 
and  his  stronger  mind  short-cuts  the  longer  and  mo- 
notonous processes  which  in  the  earlier  years  are 
attended  with  so  much  worthless  consumption  of  time. 
The  story-teller  still  has  her  place  in  the  school; 
and  historical  narrative  adds  to  myth  its  noble  contri- 
bution from  the  past.  During  this  time  of  receptive 
memory  beautiful  gems  from  literature  are  made  the 
children's  own.  The  period  is  also  characterized  as  the 
one  particularly  favourable  for  pure  language  study; 
hence,  a  foreign  tongue,  preferably  French,  should  be 
begun  early  in  this  period,  but  entirely  by  the  mother- 
tongue  method.  From  contact  with  Nature  in  the  play 
school  the  child  has  already  got  his  unconscious  knowl- 
edge of  numbers,  and,  in  his  own  way,  can  make  some 
surprising  calculations.  It  is  now  well  that  he  should 
be  drilled  in  the  fundamental  processes  and  acquire, 
through  use,  a  knowledge  of  the  alphabets  and  basic 
relations  of  numbers.  Construction  takes  on  a  higher 
form.  The  simpler  representations  will  not  now  an- 
swer. The  boy's  boat  must  be  the  best  boat;  the  girl's 
doll  must  be  the  best  dressed.  It  is  a  time  of  the  wind- 
mill, the  water-wheel,  the  sail-boat,  the  kite,  the  top, 
the  mechanical  toy,  the  pattern-making,  the  well- 
plotted  garden,  the  play-house,  store  vending,  and  juve- 


130  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

nile  soldiers'  drill.  The  child  must  have  his  tools  and 
work  room,  and  his  pets  to  care  for.  He  prizes  drill 
in  sloyd,  sewing,  and  modelling;  but  all  of  his  exercises 
must  be  for  some  practical  purpose.  It  is  a  time  also 
when  the  voice  needs  careful  attention,  that  children 
may  sing  softly  and  in  perfect  tune.  They  should  have 
opportunity  to  hear  beautiful  music,  and,  occasionally, 
the  stirring  brass  band.  If  the  future  violinist  or  pian- 
ist is  to  arise  to  any  great  distinction,  it  must  be  by 
training  of  the  finer  muscles  during  this  favourable 
period.  But  with  all,  the  child  must  have  abundant 
time  and  abundant  opportunity  for  free  play,  and  this 
free  play  should  have  fully  half  of  his  waking  hours. 
He  needs  also  eleven  hours  of  sleep  (best  hours  eight 
to  six),  and  well-selected,  nutritious  food. 

Why  is  so  much  time  demanded  for  play?  Will 
this  not  interfere  very  materially  with  the  serious  work 
of  the  school  in  getting  the  child  ready  for  the  responsi- 
bilities of  life? 

It  must  ever  be  remembered  that  play  is  the  child's 
divine  right.  The  man  owes  his  comparatively  greater 
longevity  over  the  other  animals  to  the  fact  that  his 
period  of  childhood,  of  free  play,  is  longer;  and  in 
proportion  as  we  encroach  on  this  fundamental  neces- 
sity in  healthy  growth,  we  limit  the  tenure,  the  useful- 
ness, and  the  enjoyment  of  adult  life.  If  we  do  not 
allow  the  child  adequate  time  for  play,  there  is  no  life 
worth  the  getting  ready  to  live. 

What  are  the  reasons  for  placing  French  in  this 
elementary  school?  If  it  is  based  on  the  fact  that  this 
is  the  natural  time  for  language,  why  not  give  the  more 
attention  to  English? 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  131 

I  would  not  for  a  moment  lessen  the  attention  which 
should  be  given  to  pure  English,  except  to  say  that 
the  best  English  training  a  child  at  this  age  can  get 
is  by  imitation  from  the  exemplar  teacher,  the  models 
in  polite  literature,  and  in  the  clear  comprehension  of 
things  to  say.  But  there  is  a  limit  to  which  English, 
unaided  by  other  language,  can  rise.  The  study  of  a 
foreign  tongue  brings  into  play  many  nicer  exercises 
in  the  interpretation  of  one  tongue  into  terms  of  an- 
other, many  discriminations  in  word  forms,  synony- 
mous meanings  and  particular  choices,  and  also  un- 
consciously much  of  grammatical  values  not  so  easily 
recognisable  in  one's  own  familiar  tongue.  It  is  be- 
cause the  processes  of  thought  involved  are  so  much 
richer  that  a  foreign  tongue  at  this  age  is  particularly 
desirable  as  a  help  in  English  thinking.  Besides, 
the  period  is  the  natural  one  for  language  study; 
and  if  one  is  ever  to  get  a  foreign  language  at  all,  he 
might  as  well  get  it  while  it  is  easy.  "  I  doubt/' 
said  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,*  "if  I  was  twelve 
years  old  when  my  father  gave  me  a  scrap  in  French, 
from  the  Journal  des  Debats,  about  excavations 
in  Assyria,  and  asked  me  to  translate  it  for  his  news- 
paper." 

There  is  no  particular  objection  to  making  German 
the  introductory  modern  language,  if  local  circum- 
stances render  that  language  more  advisable.  A  child 
should  gain  a  speaking  knowledge,  by  the  mother- 
tongue  method,  of  both  French  and  German  before  he 
reaches  the  high  school.  It  is  perhaps  best  he  should 

*  Bale's  How  I  was  Educated. 


132  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

take  up  one  first.  French  is  much  the  easier  in  learn- 
ing, and  therefore  is  placed  first. 

Where  shall  we  get  teachers  qualified  for  this  in- 
struction in  the  lower  school?  Shall  all  our  teachers 
be  required  to  be  proficient  in  French  and  German? 

Not  necessarily  so.  French  or  German  in  schools 
below  the  high  school  should  be  taught  entirely  by  the 
mother-tongue  method,  and  this  calls  for  teachers  who 
are  trained  to  the  mother  tongue.  It  is  not  necessary 
that  such  a  teacher  should  be  with  the  children  except- 
ing at  certain  hours  during  the  week.  Then  everything 
should  take  on  the  atmosphere  of  the  French  or  Ger- 
man lands,  be  it  in  the  school  room  or  in  the  fields. 

Would  you  have  no  French  or  German  in  the  play 
school? 

There  is  no  objection  to  some  simple  exercises  of 
this  character  in  childish  spirit,  if  the  circumstances 
demand.  Many  kindergartners  have  introduced  some- 
thing of  the  foreign  tongues  in  connection  with  the 
children's  lunch.  In  this  way  the  children  are  taught 
quite  effectively,  and  to  their  great  delight,  many 
phrases  appropriate  to  their  exercises.  Wherever  this 
can  be  done  in  connection  with  the  play  exercises  it 
certainly  has  no  objections  and  may  present  many  de- 
cided gains. 

Would  there  be  no  formal  gymnastics  in  this  school? 

Not  for  children  of  ages  eight,  nine,  and  ten,  ex- 
cepting in  correction  of  physical  malformations.  The 
best  physical  training  a  child  of  this  age  can  have 
is  nutritious  food,  an  abundance  of  free  play,  great 
freedom  in  the  school  room,  and  eleven  hours  of  re- 
freshing sleep.  If  you  can  not  have  these  essential 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  133 

elements  and  conditions,  then  you  must  offer  formal 
gymnastics. 

When  would  you  teach  the  child  his  multiplication 
table  ? 

I  do  not  know  that  I  would  teach  it  to  him  at 
all;  I  would  probably  let  him  learn  it.  And  yet  it  is 
highly  important  the  child  should  have  careful  drill 
in  the  alphabets  of  numbers  during  this  period.  In- 
stead of  making  him  commit  meaningless  tables  of 
numbers,  I  would  place  the  common  tables  in  large 
characters  on  great  charts  on  the  walls  so  that  the 
child  could  get  his  table  help  at  any  time  by  an  imme- 
diate glance  at  the  table  form.  An  abundance  of  cal- 
culations soon  makes  the  child  familiar  with  the  funda- 
mental products ;  and  after  a  time  he  will  himself  short- 
cut the  processes  by  mastering  the  missing  links.  Or 
then,  when  the  table  has  become  his  tool,  the  teacher 
may  make  requirement  if  necessary. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Samuel  Pepys,  the 
eminent  English  accountant,  who  was  secretary  of  the 
navy  under  Charles  II  (all  historians  rely  on  his  diary 
for  data  concerning  the  reign  of  this  king),  and 
was  selected  to  make  reply  to  the  criticisms  on  the 
naval  department — which  was  done  with  such  accuracy 
of  statement,  mathematical  detail,  and  effective  results 
that  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  king  and  the  naval 
department — graduated  from  Cambridge  in  1653,  but 
did  not  learn  the  multiplication  table  until  1662.* 

Concerning  covering  the  wall  with  placards  and 
charts,  bearing  in  large  characters  tables  and  other  im- 

*  See  Samuel  Pepys'  Diary. 


134:  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

portant  data  to  be  fixed  on  the  memory,  the  schools 
have  much  to  learn  from  the  psychology  of  advertising 
as  exemplified  in  street-car  cards  and  on  bulletin  boards. 

THE  INTERMEDIATE  SCHOOL. 

The  years  eleven,  twelve,  and  thirteen  in  boys,  and 
eleven  and  twelve  in  girls,  are  marked  by  great  accelera- 
tion of  growth  in  height  and  weight.  Full  boyhood  is 
reached  ordinarily  at  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  year,  and 
full  girlhood  ordinarily  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  year. 
This  is  the  pre-pubescent  stage  just  before  great  or- 
ganic changes  set  in,  and  may  be  called  the  period  of 
realized  childhood.  The  child  now  begins  some  gen- 
eralization and  is  ready  for  a  general  survey  of  his 
environment  and  for  exercises  of  further  skill  in  his 
adjustment.  The  development  of  finer  muscles  has 
given  him  a  quickness  and  grace  of  body  not  earlier 
possible ;  and  his  mental  co-ordinations  are  correspond- 
ingly rapid.  It  is  a  time  of  spontaneous  politeness  and 
general  helpfulness.  He  does  not  care  to  play  alone, 
but  has  a  passion  for  flocking,  for  choosing  sides,  and 
for  the  gang. 

His  overabounding  nature  may  now  make  trouble 
unless  properly  directed;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  any 
utilization  of  his  gang  spirit  leads  easily  to  great  help- 
fulness in  self-government  and  to  the  recognition  of 
community  relations.  It  is  an  excellent  time  to  abridge 
many  of  the  usual  processes  of  the  school  and  to  gain 
in  a  short  time,  under  proper  opportunity,  a  compre- 
hensive preparation  for  the  work  of  the  high  school. 
The  school  may  now  take  on  a  miniature  representation 
of  life  and  may  anticipate  to  good  advantage  every 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  135 

study  that  is  to  follow.  Because  of  this,  it  may  be 
called  the  School  of  General  Survey  and  Universal  Ad- 
justment. If  there  is  any  one  person  in  the  world 
who  in  a  short  time  can  quickly  comprehend  and  also 
adjust  himself  to  almost  any  emergency  of  universal 
environment,  that  person  is  the  boy  or  girl  of  this  age. 
This  is  the  time  for  the  climbing  of  trees,  for  learning 
to  swim  and  to  skate,  for  writing  letters  to  the  oppo- 
site sex,  for  baseball,  for  excursions,  for  running  away 
from  school,  and  for  stealing  watermelons — not  to  be 
bad,  but  just  for  the  fun  of  the  thing.  The  child  now 
needs  an  abundance  of  food,  freedom  from  pressure, 
plenty  to  do  during  school  hours,  attention  to  cleanli- 
ness, opportunity  to  help  somebody  else,  but  not  under 
requirement,  opportunity  for  social  games  and  play, 
and  ten  hours  of  refreshing  sleep.  Up  to  the  end  of 
this  period  co-education  has  its  self-evident  advantages ; 
during  the  following  four  years  it  is  a  debatable 
question. 

Because  of  all  this,  the  study  of  Nature  in  the 
census  of  birds,  the  traits  and  habits  of  fishes  and 
mammals,  the  colonization  of  bees  and  ants,  the  culture 
of  frogs  and  toads,  the  destruction  of  pestiferous  in- 
sects, and  the  fostering  of  plant  life  for  animal  pur- 
poses, is  an  exceedingly  interesting  occupation  at  this 
period,  so  long  as  it  involves  something  for  the  child 
to  do  in  the  domestication  of  animals  and  in  the  cul- 
ture of  the  higher  types  of  plant  life.  Before  this  time, 
the  child,  from  his  general  contact  with  the  world  and 
from  the  illustrated  lecture,  has  got  an  elementary 
knowledge  that  the  world  is  round  and  one  of  many 
worlds,  and  of  the  general  size  and  location  of  the  con- 
11 


136  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

tinents  and  oceans.  He  has  also  gained  many  useful 
ideas  from  his  experience  and  observation  in  the  school 
park,  from  attendance  on  illustrated  lectures  and  else- 
where. He  is  now  ready  for  a  detailed  study  of 
the  geography  of  the  world;  and  for  this  the  two  or 
three  years'  of  this  school  are  ample  time.  Language 
is  still  easily  acquired.  The  forms  of  written  com- 
munications used  in  letter-writing  and  business  trans- 
actions should  receive  special  attention;  and  abundant 
exercise  will  doubtless  be  given  to  record-keeping,  to 
graphic  descriptions  and  to  story-telling.  The  mod- 
ern languages  should  be  continued.  If  French  has 
been  studied  in  the  preceding  period,  German  may  now 
be  substituted,  or,  preferably,  added;  but  in  this  the 
mother-tongue  method  should  still  be  used,  with  read- 
ing and  writing  largely  incidental.  Drawing  is  con- 
tinued as  a  form  of  language  expression,  but  begins  to 
take  on  design  for  constructive  purposes. 

The  history  of  the  United  States  and  of  England, 
and  the  leading  current  events  and  their  related  history 
of  the  world  at  large,  now  make  fruitful  reading  and 
topics  for  discussion.  Good  books  and  selected  master- 
pieces should  direct  and  foster  a  worthy  literary  taste. 
Business  arithmetic  and  practical  geometry  fit  into 
their  proper  places.  Mechanics,  inventive  exercises,  and 
industrial  training,  in  practical  forms,  are  full  of  profit- 
able enjoyment.  The  child  should  now  enter  the  gym- 
nasium for  a  half  hour  of  regular  daily  drill,  class 
and  individual.  The  entire  school  should  be  organized 
for  play,  as  at  Andover ;  but  nothing  should  be  done  to 
crowd  out  the  free  spontaneous  play  which,  however, 
is  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  Andover  spirit.  It  is 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  137 

at  this  period  that  the  most  beautiful  music  in  all  the 
world  of  song  is  possible,  the  voices  of  both  boys  and 
girls  now  reaching  a  purity  and  freshness  that  have 
no  parallels  in  the  realm  of  music.  Because  of  the 
attendant  beauty,  grace,  co-operative  spirit,  brightness 
and  effective  results,  boys  and  girls  at  this  period  are 
most  selected  for  exhibition  purposes.  Nothing  that 
follows  can  compare  with  the  pleasing  life  of  this  age. 
It  is  the  glory  of  realized  boyhood  and  girlhood  in  all 
their  charm,  vigour,  and  beauty. 

Would  you  have  no  advanced  problems  in  arithmetic 
for  disciplinary  exercises? 

The  fundamental  processes  in  arithmetic  and  in 
actual  business  are  really  very  few ;  but  they  are  capable 
of  such  an  infinite  application  in  problems  such  as  one 
would  meet  in  life,  that  they  possess  all  the  disciplinary 
possibilities  that  may  be  desired.  Pupils,  in  rapid  exer- 
cises from  blackboard  tables,  may  learn  all  the  simpler 
square  and  cube  combinations  and  their  resolution  into 
roots,  so  that  the  fundamental  elements  involved  may 
thus  be  readily  recognized;  but  square  root  and  cube 
root  and  kindred  difficulties  should  be  left  until  the 
high-school  period,  when,  in  connection  with  algebra, 
geometry,  and  physics,  they  may  be  better  presented. 
The  course  of  arithmetic  prepared  by  Superintendent 
Dutton  for  his  schools  in  Brookline  is  remarkable  not 
only  in  what  it  gives,  but  in  what  it  omits.  What  there 
is,  should  be  done  well. 

I  see  no  penmanship  assigned  for  this  period. 
Where  does  penmanship  come  in?  Should  it  be  vertical 
or  slant  writing? 

There  is  little  penmanship  taught,  but  plenty  of 


138  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

good  writing  required.  In  the  elementary-school  period, 
assigned  for  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  mastery  of 
working  tools,  writing  should  be  taught.  The  system 
is  the  vertical,  with  every  letter  formed  in  the  simplest 
possible  manner  and  as  an  approximation  of  print.  The 
hand  should  be  large  and  the  lines  heavy  enough  to 
be  read  without  tiring  the  eye.  All  blackboard  writing 
should  be  in  a  very  large  and  heavy  hand.  In  the  pre- 
ceding three  years — of  ages  eight,  nine,  and  ten — pupils 
will  acquire  great  legibility  and  fair  rapidity  in  script 
writing ;  and  with  the  end  of  that  period  all  regular  spe- 
cial instruction  in  writing  may  be  discontinued.  The 
intermediate-school  period  in  its  various  exercises  calls 
for  a  great  deal  of  expression  in  writing.  Good  pen- 
manship should  always  be  required;  but  it  need  not  be 
taught  excepting  as  an  occasional  exercise.  Vertical 
writing,  once  acquired,  will  perpetuate  its  own  legibility. 

" I  now  understand"  says  some  one,  "  that  you 
would  condense  the  technical  work,  which  in  most 
schools  requires  eight  years,  and  in  Massachusetts  nine 
years,  into  these  two  periods  of  only  six  years,  and  in 
case  of  the  girls  possibly  five  years.  Do  you  think  this 
can  be  done;  and,  if  so,  how?  " 

I  am  sure  it  can  be  done.  In  the  first  place,  I  am 
relying  on  better  health  to  accomplish  in  a  short  time 
what  ordinary  meagre  health  accomplishes  with  diffi- 
culty in  a  long  time.  Then,  again,  all  the  work  of  the 
play  school  abounds  in  self-suggested  anticipations  of 
later  work,  and  leads  to  the  concepts  which  make  all 
work  easy  when  presented  at  the  proper  time.  There 
is  nothing  whatever  gained  by  the  attempt  to  force 
a  nascent  period.  At  the  proper  time  the  child  will 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  139 

come  to  his  budding  strength  for  the  accomplishment 
of  a  given  kind  of  elementary  work;  and  then  is  the 
time  to  accomplish  much  in  little.  The  attempt  to 
anticipate,  by  substituting  monotonous,  unproductive 
drudgery,  is  apt  to  inoculate  the  child  against  all  healthy 
interest  when  he  is  naturally  qualified.  It  is  never 
quantity  which  educates,  but  good  healthy  normal  exer- 
cise at  proper  tension.  Then,  there  is  much  in  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  study  which  can  be  eliminated,  as  has 
been  suggested. 

Yes,  I  am  quite  sure  that  with  an  entire  reconstruc- 
tion of  our  correlations  and  methods  of  work,  all  the 
technical  work  which  should  be  done  below  the  high 
school  can  be  done  in  these  five  or  six  years,  and  even 
then  allow  for  a  good  deal  of  absence  demanded  by  gen- 
eral circumstances.  The  fact  is,  there  is  more  educa- 
tion outside  of  the  school  than  the  average  schoolman 
is  ready  to  admit.  There  are  educational  factors  which 
the  school  has  never  yet  paralleled,  but  which  contrib- 
ute very  much  to  the  total  sum  of  a  child's  education. 

But  how  will  you  ever  get  these  pupils  together 
again  if  some  of  the  girls  omit  a  year  here  and  other 
pupils  a  number  of  months  there  f 

I  do  not  say  that  I  would  have  all  girls  omit  a 
year  at  the  end  of  this  period;  but  I  would  make  it 
possible  for  some  of  them  to  do  so,  at  least  much  of 
the  work.  As  far  as  the  difficulty  of  getting  the  pupils 
together  is  concerned,  I  am  not  disturbed  about  that. 
I  am  only  too  glad  to  see  the  early  coming  of  the  time 
when  pupils  are  not  "  together  "  in  their  work.  I  am 
willing  to  short-circuit  the  curriculum  for  a  great  many 
pupils  in  the  school. 


140  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Might  not  some  work  in  Latin  be  begun  very  profit- 
ably in  this  school? 

Most  certainly,  if  it  is  desired.  It  is  purely  a  ques- 
tion of  the  proper  amount  of  language  study  at  this 
time;  and  that  is  largely  an  individual  matter.  As  far 
as  age  is  concerned,  it  is  a  favourable  time  for  begin- 
ning Latin.  Says  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale :  *  "  I  was 
put  on  my  Latin  paradigms  when  I  was  six  years  old 
and  learned  them  remarkably  well.  We  limped  through 
a  Latin  version  of  Eobinson  Crusoe  when  I  was  eight 
years  old."  Margaret  Fuller  is  also  said  to  have  com- 
menced her  Latin  at  six  years  of  age.f 

Are  there  not  a  good  many  subjects  in  this  proposed 
course  of  study — quite  as  many}  indeed,  as  required  in 
the  ordinary  graded  school? 

It  may  appear  so,  because  all  the  elements  which  the 
child  touches  are  here  mentioned  so  that  the  compre- 
hensive scope  of  the  plan  may  be  seen.  It  should  be 
noted,  however,  that  these  subjects  are  capable  of  a 
great  deal  of  correlation.  For  instance,  mechanics,  in- 
vention, industries,  and  much  of  drawing  and  geometry 
really  constitute  one  general  subject.  But  beyond  that, 
this  school,  as  will  be  indicated  later,  works  on  a  flexi- 
ble programme  of  longer  periods  and  recognises  that 
the  child  will  probably  live  to  do  to-morrow  what  he 
can  not  accomplish  to-day.  This,  however,  will  be  dis- 
cussed later  under  the  subject  of  illustrative  methods. 

Is  it  to  be  understood  that  you  would  have  children 
work  by  longer  periods  than  is  usually  the  case?  Are 

*  Hale's  How  I  was  Educated. 

f  Julia  Ward  Howe's  Life  of  Margaret  Fuller. 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  141 

not  all  the  recent  studies  in  fatigue  overwhelming  in 
their  argument  for  still  shorter  periods  of  work  and 
for  frequent  changes  of  exercises  ? 

The  school  here  presented  is  a  very  different  affair. 
I  have  long  been  convinced  that  the  breaking  up  of 
the  child's  time  into  so  many  fragments,  with  such 
kaleidoscopic  changes,  tends  only  to  dissipation  of  en- 
ergy and  defective  mental  image.  It  is  always  better 
for  a  teacher  to  continue  until  she  has  got  something, 
always  observing  the  rule,  never  to  pass  the  point  of 
good,  healthy,  vigorous,  and  interested  attention.  Be- 
sides, the  test,  in  a  school  built  along  the  lines  sug- 
gested by  play  instincts,  is,  how  does  a  child  play?  A 
child  never  plays  with  fragmentary  division  of  time. 
His  is  always  the  longer  period.  The  moment  he  is 
pressed  for  frequent  change  he  begins  to  tire  of  his 
sport.  It  is  only  when  the  child  is  taken  to  the  school, 
the  world's  fair,  or  the  circus,  that  he  comes  home  tired. 
The  fact  is,  there  is  a  great  difference  between  a  school 
of  dead  and  passive  exercises  and  one  built  funda- 
mentally on  the  doctrine  of  interest. 

There  probably  never  has  been  a  study  of  fatigue 
where  the  elements  of  interest  and  spontaneity  entered 
into  consideration.  Every  attempt  to  measure  fatigue, 
so  far  as  I  know,  has  been  entirely  through  the  media 
of  comparatively  dead  and  passive  exercises. 

In  advancing  an  argument  for  longer  periods  of 
work  I  wish  to  be  understood.  I  do  not  fail  to  rec- 
ognise fatigue  in  our  reconstruction  of  the  school ;  but 
all  fatigue  is  not  bad.  We  need  normal  fatigue  to  com- 
plete the  cycle  which  leads  to  the  recuperation  of  en- 
ergy, the  reconstruction  of  exhausted  brain  cells;  and 


142  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

certainly  there  is  advantage  in  proper  change  of  exercise. 
What  I  am  contending  against  is  the  fragmentary  divi- 
sion of  time  and  the  dissipation  of  a  child's  energy. 
The  flexible  programme,  doing  to-day  what  can  be  done 
well,  and  the  longer  period  of  work,  wherein  interest 
is  the  controlling  spirit  in  the  doing  of  work,  are  things 
greatly  to  be  desired  in  our  elementary  education.  As 
a  child  plays,  so  may  we  safely  plan  his  normal  work. 
This  will  all  be  involved  in  the  discussion  of  methods. 

THE  SECOND  BIRTH. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  serious  problem  in  all 
the  realm  of  pedagogy.  Thus  far  we  have  been  dealing 
with  the  child  and  have  attempted  to  trace  his  gradual 
development  from  infancy  up  to  the  period  of  full  boy- 
hood and  full  girlhood.  Now  comes  a  reorganization  of 
the  child's  entire  being,  a  reorganization  based  in  the 
physical,  but  extending  upward  through  the  intel- 
lectual, and  affecting  largely  the  moral.  A  little  later 
on,  the  child  has  reached  early  manhood  or  early 
womanhood;  but  just  now  he  is  neither  child  nor  adult. 
The  entire  being  is  passing  through  an  organic  recon- 
struction which  demands  the  most  careful  consideration. 
"  The  reproductive  organs  increase  in  size,  the  larynx 
enlarges,  the  vocal  cords  become  elongated,  the  volume 
of  the  heart  is  increased.  In  the  male  the  shoulders 
broaden,  the  muscles  harden,  and  the  beard  begins  to 
grow;  in  the  female  the  pelvis  increases  in  size,  the 
bust  develops,  menstruation  begins,  and  so  on.  Prob- 
ably equally  important  changes  occur  in  the  brain;  for 
the  shape  of  the  head  changes  and  the  new  intellectual 
and  emotional  activities  of  this  period  must  be  accon> 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  143 

panied  by  the  functioning  of  cerebral  centres  that  have 
lain  dormant  before.  This  is,  moreover,  a  period  of 
specially  rapid  growth  in  both  sexes.  Key,  who  reports 
observations  made  upon  15,000  boys  and  3,000  girls  in 
Swedish  schools,  found  that  the  boys  showed  a  rapid 
increase  in  height  and  weight  from  the  fourteenth  to 
the  sixteenth  years.  A  similar  period  of  rapid  growth 
appeared  in  the  girls  at  a  somewhat  earlier  age."  * 

Dr.  Burnham,  from  whom  the  above  quotation  is 
made  and  whose  studies  have  given  an  immense  impetus 
to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  characteristics  of  ado- 
lescence, further  says : 

"  The  psychological  changes  at  puberty  are  no  less 
remarkable.  There  is  a  great  influx  of  new  sensations. 
The  brain,  aroused  by  these  new  stimuli,  increases  its 
activity.  The  psychic  concomitant  of  this  increased 
cerebral  activity  is  manifested  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
The  adolescent  mind  is  filled  with  hopes,  dreams,  tem- 
pestuous passions,  and  new  ideas.  Social  and  ethical 
impulses  become  dominant ;  egotism  often  gives  place  to 
altruism.  Political  or  religious  zeal  sometimes  becomes 
the  mainspring  of  action.  The  reasoning  powers  come 
into  use.  At  a  somewhat  later  period  philosophic  specu- 
lation frequently  becomes  almost  a  passion ;  and  philo- 
sophic and  religious  doubts  are  often  common.  The 
whole  period  of  adolescence  is  often  one  of  mental 
storm  and  stress;  and  not  infrequently  the  cerebral 
overstrain  results  in  insanity." 

It  is  in  failure  to  consider  these  great  fundamental 


*  W.  H.  Burnham's  The  Study  of  Adolescence.    Pedagogical 
Seminary,  vol.  i,  pp.  174-195. 


144  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

reconstructions  of  organism,  which  call  for  the  concen- 
trated energies  of  the  entire  being,  that  educational 
methods  have  been  most  devoid  of  conscience.  At  the 
very  time  when  there  has  been  the  most  need  for  con- 
servation, the  school  system  too  often  presses  the  child 
unmercifully.  The  changes  attending  this  physical 
growth  and  reconstruction  may  be  more  manifest  in 
girls,  but  they  are  just  as  energy-consuming  in  boys. 
At  this  time  there  must  be  relaxation,  change  in  direc- 
tion, freedom  from  pressure,  and  opportunity. 

"  Every  modification  of  the  sexual  organs  and  every 
excitement  will  have  its  effect  on  the  nervous  system, 
and  through  it  on  the  whole  organism.  Nervous  cen- 
tres, voluntary  muscles,  involuntary  muscles,  heart  and 
blood-vessels,  glands — everything  is  affected."  (Dr. 
Colin  A.  Scott.) 

Dr.  Christopher  *  has  said  that  if  a  child  were  grow- 
ing fast  and  studying  hard  while  at  the  same  time  it 
should  be  developing  the  reproductive  organs,  it  would 
be  almost  impossible  to  furnish  sufficient  food  to  carry 
on  all  these  processes,  and  something  would  be  sure  to 
suffer. 

Dr.  Clouston  also  very  pointedly  remarks :  "Ameri- 
can physicians  tell  us  that  there  are  some  schools  in 
Boston  that  turn  out  young  ladies  so  highly  educated 
that  every  particle  of  spare  fat  is  consumed  by  the 
brain  cells  that  subserve  the  functions  of  cognition  and 
memory." 

"  Puberty,"  as  one  writer  has  said,  "  is  the  grand 
court  of  appeal  by  which  weak  children  are  weeded  out 

*  Child  Study  Monthly,  vol.  iv,  p.  74 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  145 

and  only  those  who  have  sufficient  vitality  for  life's 
battle  renew  their  strength  and  continue  their  de- 
velopment. .  .  .  Foster's  Medical  Dictionary  puts  the 
average  period  of  adolescence  at  between  the  ages  of 
fourteen  and  twenty-five  for  boys  and  twelve  and  twen- 
ty-one for  girls.  .  .  .  Clouston  makes  puberty  the  initial 
period  in  the  development  of  the  function  of  reproduc- 
tion, and  adolescence  the  whole  period  of  twelve  years 
from  first  evolution  up  to  the  full  perfection  of  repro- 
ductive energy."  (Burnham.)* 

Any  teacher,  whose  vision  is  not  clouded  by  course 
of  study  requirement  and  the  demand  for  a  mechanical 
gradation,  in  contact  with  girls  approximately  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  and  boys  at  fourteen,  can  not  but  have 
observed  the  difficulty  with  which  children  at  this  age 
usually  perform  school  work.  The  girFs  manifest  weak- 
ness in  climbing  stairs  and  the  boy's  clumsiness  in  walk- 
ing across  the  floor  are  both  indicative  of  inability  to 
co-ordinate,  because  life  energies  are  centred  largely  in 
growth.  This  year  of  greatest  stress,  wherever  it  hap- 
pens to  come — and  it  varies  with  the  differentiation  in 
children — must  be  attended  with  a  modification  of  school 
plans  that  will  make  conservation  of  these  fundamental 
demands  of  growth  a  matter  of  prime  importance.  I 
do  not  say  that  such  a  child  should  have  no  schooling; 
but  I  do  insist  that  many  children  ruin  all  their  chances 
for  future  health  by  close  application  to  school  work 
during  this  critical  time.  Because  of  this,  not  to  make 
such  a  plan  uniform  for  all  children,  but  to  present 
opportunity  for  frequent  need  and  to  emphasize  the 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  i,  p.  174. 


146  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

importance  of  some  provision,  I  have  placed  in  our  gen- 
eral course  of  study  a  year  of  relaxed  school  life,  to  be 
spent,  if  possible,  amid  circumstances  of  proper  men- 
tal activity,  but  of  radical  removal  from  school  tension 
and  rivalry.  This  year  on  our  chart  has  been  placed 
approximately  at  fourteen;  but  it  should  come  early 
or  late  whenever  the  condition  of  the  child's  health 
demands.  It  is  a  good  thing  for  the  schoolman  to 
realize  that  there  is  much  education  for  a  child  outside 
of  the  school;  and  the  school  plans  should  be  so  built 
as  to  permit  a  child's  absence  at  any  time,  without  loss 
above  compensation.  The  school  which  has  difficulty 
in  placing  children  received  from  other  schools,  or  who 
have  been  out  of  school  for  a  time,  is  not  simply  out 
of  joint  with  other  schools,  but  is  itself  out  of  joint 
with  Nature. 

THE  GYMNASIUM  OR  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

The  pupil  is  now  still  in  the  early  stages  of  adoles- 
cence; but,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  year  of  greatest  stress 
has  passed.  If  not,  it  should  have  consideration  at  any 
time  it  appears.  The  period  characteristic  of  the  ages 
fifteen,  sixteen,  and  seventeen  is,  as  a  rule,  one  of  re- 
markable tendency.  As  the  outgrowth  of  physiological 
and  psychological  changes  the  youth's  entire  attitude 
toward  life  has  been  changed.  There  has  been  a  break- 
ing up  of  old  anchorages,  a  reticence  toward  parents, 
and  frequently  a  desire  to  get  away  from  home.  An 
unsettled  condition  of  mind  is  also  attended  by  grow- 
ing convictions,  which  seek  expression  sometimes  in 
harsh  and  very  inconsistent  ways.  The  mind  is  filled 
with  ambitious  dreaming,  and  strenuous  desire  to  do 


THE   COURSE  OF  STUDY.  147 

something  right  off.  The  safety  of  the  youth  demands 
that  there  must  be  opportunity  for  this  pent-up,  over- 
flowing, and  red-hot  energy  to  express  itself.  If  there 
is  not  such  opportunity  it  may  vent  itself  in  immoral 
and  lascivious  dreaming.  If  it  is  true,  as  our  most 
eminent  physiologist  asserts,*  that  many  boys  spend 
nine  tenths  of  their  time  in  thinking  about  matters 
pertaining  to  sex,  it  is  highly  important  that  the  time 
of  such  pupils  should  be  filled  with  inhibitive  exercises 
that  will  prevent  this  over-consumption  of  time  by  sex- 
consciousness.  As  President  Hall  has  so  well  said: 
"  Quite  apart,  therefore,  from  its  intrinsic  value,  educa- 
tion should  serve  the  purpose  of  preoccupation,  and 
should  divert  attention  from  an  element  of  our  nature, 
the  premature  or  excessive  development  of  which  dwarfs 
every  part  of  soul  and  body/'  The  youth  must  have 
opportunity  to  express  his  overflow  energy  in  physical 
exercises  not  altogether  work,  to  do  something.  He 
should  not  be  given  chance  to  spend  his  time  in  indo- 
lence, in  secluded  sentimental  reading,  and  in  riotous 
imagination.  His  need  is  for  action. 

The  question  whether  the  sexes  should  be  coedu- 
cated  during  this  period  of  maximum  sex-consciousness 
is  one  much  discussed.  If  the  major  thoughts  of  many 
boys  dwell  insistently  on  sex  functions,  as  asserted  in 
the  authority  given,  and  a  similar  consciousness,  even 
in  degree,  exists  with  girls,  are  there  losses  or  gains 
in  coeducation?  Notwithstanding  the  judgment  formed 
by  most  persons  on  the  mere  statement  of  the  question 
in  this  light,  I  am  inclined  to  think  there  are  gains. 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  i,  p.  207. 


148  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

After  a  long,  active  experience  which  has  placed  me 
in  charge  of  one  hundred  thousand  boys  and  girls  of 
all  ages,  with  some  inclination  to  study  individual  char- 
acteristics, I  am  led  to  the  opinion,  particularly  as  far 
as  boys  are  concerned,  that  the  separated  child  is  the 
unfortunate  one,  that  his  lascivious  imagination  arises 
from  being  alone,  and  that  there  is  purifying  corrective 
in  the  presence  of  the  opposite  sex.  It  is  far  better  to 
have  a  boy's  conceptions  of  girlhood  coloured  by  con- 
tact with  the  nobler  average  girl  of  the  school  than  by 
his  riotous  imagination  or  some  exceptional  suggestion. 
If  judged  from  this  point  of  view,  coeducation  has  its 
tower  of  great  strength. 

However,  the  question  is  a  broader  one  than  this. 
Are  the  functions  of  the  education  of  the  two  sexes 
the  same  ?  There  are  physiological  reasons  why  the  girl 
surpasses  the  boy  in  school  ability  at  the  beginning  of 
this  period,  because  her  development  is  earlier.  Dr. 
W.  0.  Krohn  *  has  attempted  to  show,  basing  his  infer- 
ences on  the  tables  of  Vierordt,f  that  the  brain  of  the 
girl  at  twelve  or  thirteen,  and  of  the  boy  at  fourteen, 
diminishes  in  weight  because  the  blood  and  vital  ener- 
gies at  this  period  of  stress  are  largely  diverted  to  the 
development  of  other  parts  of  the  body,  and  that  the 
girl's  recovery  one  or  two  years  earlier  is  the  reason 
she  is  able  to  surpass  the  less-favoured  boy  at  this  time. 
This,  however,  is  purely  speculative,  for  the  number  of 
cases  (Vierordt's  table)  at  these  particular  ages  is  too 
limited  for  the  basing  of  a  scientific  conclusion.  It  is 
very  possible  that  a  boy  at  this  critical  age  can  not 

*  Child  Study  Monthly,  vol.  i,  p.  36.         f  Chapter  VI,  p.  115. 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  149 

divert  energy  from  bodily  growth  to  mental  operations, 
while  the  girl  having  passed  it  earlier  to  a  greater  ex- 
tent can,  and  therein  lies  her  perhaps  greater  danger 
from  working  under  requirements  of  work  uniform  also 
for  boys.  Dr.  Edward  H.  Clarke  remarks:  "  It  was  not 
Latin,  French,  German,  mathematics,  or  philosophy 
that  undermined  her  nerves.  She  lost  her  health  simply 
because  she  undertook  to  do  her  work  in  a  boy's  way 
and  not  in  a  girl's  way."  Clouston  also  very  pointedly 
adds:  "  Why  should  we  spoil  a  good  mother  by  making 
an  ordinary  grammarian  ?  " 

If  this  phase  of  the  problem  has  no  other  solution 
than  that  presented  in  the  practices  of  the  school  of 
uniformity,  then  we  must  render  verdict  that  coeduca- 
tion of  the  sexes  in  the  high-school  period  is  a  failure. 
But  the  plans  and  methods  of  work,  the  discussion  of 
which  we  are  now  entering,  are  built  fundamentally  on 
the  recognition  of  existing  individual  differences  and 
needs,  and,  therefore,  provide  a  place  where  neither  the 
girl  nor  boy  will  suffer  in  a  scheme  of  coeducation  as 
applied  to  exercises,  mental  and  moral. 

If,  however,  a  school  is  so  happy  as  to  be  able  to  de- 
part from  the  ordinary  conventional  form,  as  in  the  case 
of  Captain  Wilson's  school  on  Lake  Pasquaney,  where 
sixty  or  more  boys  are  turned  loose  during  the  summer 
months  to  live,  with  little  clothing  and  much  exposure 
to  sun  and  storm,  and  with  principal  exercises  in  mili- 
tary drill,  gymnastics,  swimming,  boating,  mountain 
climbing,  and  farming,  then  certainly  the  school  must  be 
for  one  sex.  But  desirable  as  a  summer  school  of  this 
kind  would  be  for  each  of  the  sexes,  it  does  not  enter 
largely  into  our  problem,  excepting  to  say  there  are 


150  AN    IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

certain  parallel  exercises  in  the  general  school  which, 
in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  should  be  separate — 
namely,  gymnastics,  bathing,  swimming,  and  heavier 
constructive  and  farming  exercises,  which  should  have 
a  place  in  a  scheme  of  education  planned  to  conserve 
Nature.  The  argument  for  the  school  of  coeducation, 
excepting  for  degenerates,  still  stands. 

The  period  of  early  adolescence,  then,  is  a  period 
when  the  old  foundations  of  the  youth  become  unset- 
tled. He  must  have  opportunity  for  original  inquiry 
and  investigation  in  order  to  reach  convictions.  The 
doubt  which  psychologists  say  arises  at  this  time  is 
fundamentally  necessary  to  make  him  an  original 
thinker.  He  must  have  opportunity  to  depart  from 
uniformity  and  to  find  out  something  for  himself.  The 
teacher  can  only  give  him  association  and  perspective. 
It  is  a  period  calling,  as  a  safeguard,  for  active  outlet 
for  overflowing  energy.  He  must  have  laboratory  work, 
industrial  training,  and  physical  exercise.  The  study 
or  the  plan  of  work  which  calls  for  long-continued 
sitting  or  passive  exercise  is  not  best  for  his  interests 
as  an  adolescent. 

Says  Dr.  Burnham :  "  Activity  is  imperatively  ne- 
cessary. Education  for  adolescence  must  no  longer  be 
mere  acquisition;  it  must  give  outlet  for  action.  For 
many  this  is  necessary  for  mental  balance;  for  all  it 
is  a  means  of  saving  waste  energy." 

All  the  studies  of  the  school  must  take  on  labora- 
tory character.  There  must  be  little  opportunity  for 
idle  dreaming,  for  sentimental  twaddle,  and  for  riotous 
imagination.  There  must  be  inhibition  by  interested 
exercise,  the  drawing  off  of  superfluous  energy  by  ex- 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY. 

penditure  in  commanding  activity,  the  storage  of  the 
mind  with  noble  enterprise,  and  salvation  by  contact 
with  healthy,  uplifting  personality.  While  this  is  a 
time  demanding  individual  initiative  and  prosecution, 
it  is  also  a  period  which  must  have  debate,  in  which, 
however,  none  are  so  well  qualified  to  speak  intelli- 
gently or  to  be  heard  so  appreciatively  as  those  who 
come  to  their  convictions  through  individual  oppor- 
tunity. 

Because  the  early  adolescent  age  calls  so  much  for 
the  expenditure  of  superabundant  energy  in  active  ex- 
ercise it  is  here  called  the  period  of  .the  Gymnasium, 
which,  under  the  nature  involved,  is  a  better  name  than 
the  High  School.  It  is  not  a  period  for  platitudes  and 
monotonous  procedure,  but  for  the  expenditure  of  po- 
tential energy  in  kinetic  exercises. 

The  studies  and  media  of  the  gymnasium  or  high 
school  are  choices  in  the  sciences,  grammar,  Latin  (and 
possibly  Greek),  French,  German,  literature,  history, 
algebra  and  geometry,  design,  creation,  play,  gym- 
nastics, music,  and  art.  The  manner  of  dealing  with 
these  will  be  presented  in  our  discussions  on  methods, 
the  child,  and  the  teacher. 

Owing  to  the  excessive  growth  during  this  period, 
the  adolescent  needs  an  abundance  of  wholesome  food, 
omitting  confections  and  pastries,  nine  hours  of  sleep 
with  no  overindulgence,  well-directed  occupation,  the 
storage  of  the  mind  with  good  things,  plenty  of  fresh 
air  and  exercise,  and  almost  constant  companionship. 

Recognising  the  lofty  function  of  reproduction,  and 
that  the  child  passing  through  this  tremendous  organic 
change  is  flooded  with  a  growing  sex-consciousness  and 
12 


152  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

an  overflowing  of  energy,  which  are  to  him  sources  of  great 
danger,  what  are  the  duties  of  the  parent  and  the 
teacher  in  helping  him  in  this  period  of  such  portentous 
consequences  ? 

The  duty  of  the  teacher  has  been  largely  outlined 
in  the  suggested  adaptation  of  work.  To  the  enlight- 
ened parent  the  child  has  a  right  to  look  for  protec- 
tion; but  there  comes  a  time  when  such  questions  as 
these  can  not  easily  be  discussed  by  the  parent  with 
the  child.  The  introduction  of  the  work  must  be  done 
at  the  initial  period.  If  there  is  ever  a  time  when  the 
parent's  duty  is  manifest,  it  is  at  this  time  when  the 
child  knows  not  himself  but  must  come  to  his  knowl- 
edge of  great  vital  questions  through  sources,  good  or 
evil,  pure  or  debasing.  As  Earl  Barnes  has  so  well  said : 
"  There  are  two  sources  from  which  this  knowledge  may 
be  obtained — one  true  and  pure,  the  other  false  and 
dirty.  Nineteen  twentieths  of  children  draw  their 
information  from  those  .  .  .  who  possess  the  mor- 
bid, false,  and  dirty  view.  They  master  a  vocabulary 
which  dates  back  philologically  to  our  Aryan  begin- 
ning, but  to  print  which  is  a  crime.  The  view  which 
these  children  obtain  is  an  abnormal  one,  and 
when  they  develop  they  use  their  sex  powers  abnor- 
mally." 

Dr.  Helen  P.  Kennedy  *  says  that  "of  125  girls 
from  whom  she  obtained  written  statements  on  this  sub- 
ject, 36  passed  into  womanhood  with  no  knowledge 
whatever,  from  a  proper  source,  of  all  that  makes  them 
women;  39  had  received  a  very  meagre  amount  of  in- 

*  Child  Study  Monthly,  vol.  iv,  p.  81. 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  153 

struction,  while  less  than  half  of  the  whole  number  felt 
free  to  talk  to  their  own  mothers  on  this  important 
subject." 

Says  Dr.  Jeanette  W.  Hall :  "  Are  we  going  to  allow 
our  boys  and  girls  to  come  to  this  critical  period  in 
their  lives  unprepared  to  meet  and  cope  with  its  dan- 
gers ?  Shall  we  sit  quietly  down  with  the  means  in  our 
possession  to  present  this  subject  in  its  pure  and  noble 
aspect  and  allow  some  one  else  to  poison  the  minds  of 
our  children  and  inflict  upon  them  a  view  of  sex  and 
reproduction  from  which  they  can  never  free  them- 
selves? Shall  our  girls  become  invalids  through  igno- 
rance and  our  boys  be  robbed  of  half  their  manhood 
because  of  our  superrefined  delicacy?  .  .  .  Let  us 
rather  attain  to  that  height  from  which  we  ourselves 
can  look  out  upon  this  subject  freed  from  all  impurity 
and  see  in  reproduction  the  crowning  feature  of  God's 
great  plan  of  life.  Then,  with  a  scientific  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  let  us  present  it  to  our  children  that  they 
may  look  upon  puberty  as  a  phase  of  life  as  sacred  as 
birth  or  death  and  as  pure  as  infancy  or  maturity,  and 
upon  reproduction  as  a  sacred  power/' 

The  function  of  the  teacher,  in  loco  parentis — man 
teacher  for  the  boys  and  woman  teacher  for  the  girls — 
in  bringing  to  the  adolescent  this  nobler  conception  of 
being  and  life,  is  the  most  difficult  and  yet  the  highest 
one  in  all  pedagogy.  At  this  time  of  stress  and  storm, 
of  budding  strength  and  conscious  weakness,  of  doubt 
and  yet  need  of  light,  the  child  seeks  his  confidants. 
If  there  is  ever  a  time  when  "  the  confessional  is  the 
soul's  clearing-house  "  (Hall),  that  time  is  now.  The 
intelligent  teacher  may  have  a  duty  here,  hard  to  read 


154:  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

and  difficult  of  accomplishment;  but  it  is  frequently 
a  field  where  "  fools  rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread." 
This  is,  however,  a  matter  primarily  for  the  father  and 
the  mother. 

But  we  must  pass  in  our  discussion  to  other  phases 
of  our  ideal  school.  The  college  and  the  university, 
following  the  gymnasium  or  high  school,  do  not  come 
within  the  province  of  our  problem.  They  are  given 
their  places  in  our  general  course  of  study  simply  to 
show  function  and  relation.  We  need  not  stop  to  dis- 
cuss these  phases  of  higher  education.  Their  provinces 
and  suggested  characteristics  are  indicated  on  the 
diagram. 

Should  not  the  college  be  discussed  here  to  show 
what  higher  education  has  a  right  to  expect  from  the 
high  school?  Is  not  your  high  school  to  be  a  prepara- 
tory school  for  the  college? 

No,  not  to  any  considerable  extent.  The  college 
must  be  the  successor  of  the  high  school.  It  must  take 
up  the  work  of  the  capable  student  wherever  he  may 
happen  to  be. 

"  But"  exclaims  some  high-school  principal,  "  the 
colleges  make  their  demands  and  state  their  require- 
ments in  terms  of  uniformity.  How  shall  we  escape 
this  domination  which  destroys  our  opportunity  for  in- 
dividual conservation  ?  " 

I  will  tell  you  how  it  can  be  done.  It  must  be  by 
the  better  high  schools  declaring  their  independence. 
The  time  is  rapidly  passing  when  the  colleges  can  dic- 
tate what  shall  be  the  education  in  the  secondary 
schools.  The  colleges  are  in  the  business  for  students. 
Just  as  soon  as  they  find  that  they  can  not  get  stu- 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  155 

dents  on  their  own  terms  they  will  take  them  on  the 
terms  whereby  they  can  get  them. 

I  do  not  doubt  that  many  strong,  capable  people, 
who  come  to  opportunity  for  liberal  culture  unexpect- 
edly late  in  life,  are  denied  their  just  rights  by  the 
present  attitude  of  the  colleges.  The  magnificent 
school  founded  by  Mr.  Moody  for  this  class  of  men  and 
women  is  an  exception  which  must  determine  the  rule 
in  colleges  all  over  the  land.  I  once  knew  a  bright 
literary  woman  who,  in  the  midst  of  a  life  devoted  to 
culture  as  a  student,  poet,  economist,  and  lecturer,  sud- 
denly came  to  the  desire  to  gain  from  the  methods  of 
the  college.  But  this  brilliant  literary  woman  had 
never  been  in  what  the  world  calls  the  school  more 
than  a  few  months  in  all  her  life.  Her  whole  career 
had  been  spent  amid  the  culture  of  literary  surround- 
ings, in  the  presence  of  books  and  scholarly  people, 
and  in  literary  creation ;  but  she  had  not  the  technique 
of  the  school.  "Why,"  said  the  college  executive  to 
whom  she  applied  for  admission,  "we  all  respect  your 
literary  ability;  but  under  the  requirements  of  our  in- 
stitution I  do  not  see  that  you  present  anything  on 
which  our  precedents  would  allow  us  to  grant  you  an 
admission." 

When  will  our  colleges  learn  that  they  must  find 
something  else  besides  text  and  graveyard  epitaphs  as 
the  basis  for  the  measurement  of  creative  mind?  And 
when  will  they  realize  that  they  must  take  the  capable 
student  just  where  they  find  him  in  his  desire  for  higher 
education?  As  President  Jordan  has  so  well  said:  * 

*  Jordan's  Care  and  Culture  of  Men. 


156  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

"The  rewards  of  investigation,  the  pleasures  of  high 
thinking,  the  charms  of  harmony,  have  never  been  for 
the  multitude.  To  the  multitude  they  must  be  accessi- 
ble in  the  future.  Not  as  a  gift,  for  nothing  worth 
having  was  ever  a  gift,  rather  as  divine  right  to  be  taken 
by  those  who  can." 

There  is  another  reason  why  the  college  has  been 
placed  on  this  chart  in  connection  with  the  plan  pre- 
sented for  secondary  education,  as  will  be  apparent  by 
reading  between  the  lines.  We  are  in  an  era  of  tre- 
mendous high-school  advancement,  particularly  in  our 
cities.  The  attendance  is  now  so  large  in  our  high 
schools  that  the  change  in  conditions  from  this  element 
of  numbers  will  soon  render  it  expedient  for  the  state 
to  furnish  these  young  people  their  college  education  at 
their  own  homes,  rather  than  send  them  away  where 
expenses  are  so  much  heavier.  The  equipments  of  some 
of  our  newer  high  schools,  like  those  in  Springfield, 
Mass.,  Holyoke,  Mass.,  Oakland,  Cal.,  and  other  cities, 
dwarf  many  of  our  colleges.  The  high  schools  all  over 
the  country  are  now  doing  practically  what  the  colleges 
did  fifty  years  ago ;  and  the  city  high  schools,  of  recon- 
structed type,  purely  for  economy's  sake  will  soon  be 
called  upon  to  assume  the  lower  work  of  the  present 
college. 

Something  of  this  kind  is  to  be  attempted  in  the 
new  Jacob  Tome  Institute,  at  Port  Deposit,  Md.,  which 
proposes  to  establish  a  new  degree  of  associate  for  those 
who  there  complete  the  first  two  years  of  the  college. 
The  University  of  Chicago,  it  is  said,  is  to  give  this  same 
degree  at  the  end  of  the  two  years'  course,  hoping 
eventually  to  drop  all  work  below  this  point  of  recogni- 


THE  COURSE  OF  STUDY.  157 

tion  and  to  assume  its  position  as  a  true  university. 
President  Eliot's  work  has  long  been  pointing  to  the 
same  general  issue.  This,  then,  will  create  for  the 
larger  high  school  a  new  field,  which  economically  it  is 
well  prepared  to  occupy.  Indeed,  a  few  high  schools 
are  even  now  offering  opportunity  for  post-graduate 
high-school  work. 


CHAPTEK   VIII. 

INDIVIDUAL   VARIATIONS. 

"If  symmetry  is  to  be  obtained  by  cutting  down  the  most 
vigorous  growth,  it  would  be  better  to  have  a  little  irregularity 
here  and  there."  (Agassiz.) 

THE  course  of  study  outlined  in  the  last  chapter 
has  been  presented  because  there  must  be  some  back- 
bone to  a  school  plan;  but  in  the  proper  training  of 
individuals  it  can  serve  only  a  general  purpose.  For 
convenience  in  comparison  the  usual  factor  of  years 
is  approximately  indicated;  but  in  our  scheme  for  sci- 
entific education  we  must  now  drop  the  time  element 
which  has  so  long  dominated  both  colleges  and  schools. 
The  diversities  in  the  human  animal  are  the  most  un- 
limited and  complex  of  all  life.  The  variations  in 
height,  weight,  proportion,  temperament,  food  habits, 
interests,  activities,  endurance,  and  opportunities  are 
so  wide  in  their  range  and  so  complex  in  combinations 
that  no  one  course  of  study  can  possibly  meet  the  just 
needs  of  the  many  individuals  whose  interests  are  to  be 
conserved.  Every  individual  reaches  his  supreme  possi- 
bilities in  the  fact  that  he  is  an  individual  and  that  his 
characteristics  are  peculiar  to  himself. 

Heredity. — It  is  true  that  all  children  are  descended 
from  Adam,  but  the  lines  of  descent  are  very  different. 
Under  the  conventionality  of  modern  artificial  life  dif- 
158 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  159 

ferent  individuals  may  take  on  many  common  traits 
and  imitated  characteristics;  but  still  both  immediate 
and  remote  ancestries  are  very  diversified,  and  the  child 
comes  to  the  present  a  personal  ego  plus  the  enormously 
diversified  heritages  of  the  past.  As  Spencer  has  said, 
"  To  educate  a  child  you  must  begin  back  with  his 
grandfather."  The  Pentateuch  (Ex.  xx,  5;  xxxiv,  7; 
Num.  xiv,  18)  explicitly  declares  that  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  is  visited  "  upon  the  children,  and  upon  the 
children's  children,  unto  the  third  and  to  the  fourth 
generations."  Bradford  states:  "  All  schemes  of  culture 
should  begin  with  the  recognition  that  each  child  is  dif- 
ferent from  any  other,  that  the  lines  of  difference  run 
far  back,  and  therefore  are  not  superficial;  and  that,  in 
order  to  secure  the  highest  efficiency,  systems  of  educa- 
tion should  be  adapted  to  the  individuals  to  be  reached." 
Heredity,  then,  is  a  fundamental  factor  in  variation  and 
must  be  considered  in  education.  The  ego,  the  divine 
spark,  plus  ancestral  inheritance,  can  not  be  ignored. 
Even  the  children  of  the  same  parents  come  into 
the  world  diversified  greatly  by  prenatal  conditions; 
so  much  so  that  the  several  children  of  a  given  family, 
while  bearing  marked  resemblance  to  parents  in  com- 
mon traits,  are  types  peculiar  to  themselves.  One  child 
is  tempest  and  another  is  sunshine;  one  is  phlegmatic 
and  the  other  nervous  in  temperament;  that  which 
will  do  well  for  one  child  will  not  do  at  all  for  the 
others ;  and  so  each  family  has  a  little  world  of  variety 
in  itself.  If  there  is  so  great  difference  in  the  children 
of  the  same  family,  where,  because  of  common  parent- 
age, association,  shelter,  food,  clothing,  and  general 
home  culture,  one  might  expect  some  degree  of  similar- 


160  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ity,  how  much  more  should  we  expect  variations  in  the 
fifty  children  of  a  school,  where  certainly  parentages 
and  nationalities  are  far  from  uniform ! 

Environment. — So  the  child  comes  into  the  world 
a  personal  unit  plus  heredity.  But  how  different  the 
environments!  The  variations  of  home  conditions  from 
the  rural  to  the  urban,  the  differences  in  attendance, 
food,  shelter,  clothing,  responsibilities,  companionship, 
past  instruction,  sicknesses,  injuries,  opportunities,  and 
all  the  thousands  of  circumstances,  conditions,  and 
incidents  which  go  to  make  a  person  the  "product  of 
all  he  has  ever  met"  and  been — how  endlessly  varied 
the  process,  how  diversified  the  product!  It  is  this 
product  which  comes  to  the  school  room,  to  have  worked 
into  the  soul  all  the  varying  receptivities  and  reactions 
of  the  strengths  and  weaknesses  of  each  succeeding  step 
of  instruction.  The  Child  of  a  King,  plus  heredity, 
plus  environment,  stands  at  the  door  of  the  school  and 
knocks,  asking  for  that  which  uniformity  can  never  give. 

Before  the  teacher,  frequently  of  limited  horizon 
and  questionable  motive,  there  gather  in  the  school  fifty 
children.  Whence  came  they?  They  are  the  children 
of  God,  born  of  modifying  parentages  and  conditioned 
by  an  evolution  which  knows  no  uniformity.  In  sizes, 
weights,  temperaments,  physical  health,  responsibili- 
ties, capabilities,  and  opportunities,  what  a  heterogene- 
ous assemblage!  Side  by  side,  in  the  same  school,  sit 
the  children  of  wealth  and  of  poverty,  of  native  and  of 
foreign  descent,  the  well-fed  and  the  meagrely  nour- 
ished, the  warmly  clad  and  the  scantily  protected  from 
the  storm,  the  refreshed  by  adequate  sleep  in  rooms  of 
pure  air  and  those  worn  from  meagre  hours  of  rest  in  a 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  161 

crowded,  unventilated  room,  the  child  of  luxury  and  the 
one  of  heavy  responsibilities,  the  spoiled  by  indulgent 
parents  and  the  independent  through  forced  self-reli- 
ance, the  robust  in  physical  health  and  the  incapacitated 
by  past  sicknesses  and  injuries,  the  well-taught  and  the 
ill-taught,  the  child  of  virtue  and  the  one  whose  whole 
life  is  a  moral  struggle,  the  child  of  encouragement 
and  ambition  and  the  one  heart-sick  and  of  little  ex- 
pectancy. Is  this  an  exceptional  school  ?  If  not,  what 
are  the  individual  rights  of  these  children?  How  can 
any  system  of  uniformity  answer  the  responsibility 
which  it  assumes? 

The  Growth  of  Children. — Not  for  purposes  of  defi- 
nition, but  for  general  illustration,  it  may  be  well  to 
follow  this  necessarily  brief  reference  to  heredity  and 
environment  by  a  presentation  of  some  of  the  variations 
in  physical  characteristics,  as  typed,  perhaps  least  of 
all,  in  heights  and  weights. 

Burk's  study  of  the  growth  of  children  *  deduces 
some  very  important  facts  to  be  conserved  in  a  general 
scheme  of  education ;  but  the  complexity  of  the  problem 
is  enormously  increased  by  the  tremendous  range  in  the 
heights,  in  terms  of  inches  and  years,  given  in  his 
adapted  tables  showing  the  results  of  the  measurements 
of  45,151  boys  and  43,298  girls  made  in  the  cities  of 
Boston,  St.  Louis,  Milwaukee,  Worcester,  Toronto,  and 
Oakland. 

The  following  section  (8-15  years)  from  Dr.  Bow- 
ditch's  table,  giving  the  measurement  of  Boston  school 
children,  shows  approximately  the  same  range  of  varia- 
tions: 

*  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  vol.  ix,  p.  267. 


162 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 


Variations  in  Heights  of  Boston  School  Boys. 


INCHES. 

8  yrs. 

9  yrs. 

10  yrs. 

11  yrs. 

12  yrs. 

13  yrs. 

14  yrs. 

15  yra. 

74.. 

1 

73  

72  

71  

1 

70  

3 

69  

6 

4 

68  

1 

5 

14 

67  

3 

12 

19 

66  

1 

8 

25 

65  

6 

20 

37 

64  

1 

4 

32 

38 

63  

1 

3 

13 

32 

35 

62  

6 

18 

35 

42 

61  

1 

4 

30 

34 

26 

60  

2 

16 

32 

39 

31 

59..  .. 

5 

23 

46 

42 

29 

58  
57  

•• 

*i 

3 
5 

12 
19 

38 
28 

48 
44 

49 

27 

14 
6 

56  
55..  . 

*i 

2 
4 

15 
26 

48 
45 

48 
61 

58 

28 

14 
11 

5 
5 

54  

3 

12 

34 

49 

52 

26 

6 

4 

53.. 

5 

21 

45 

46 

40 

20 

2 

52.. 

10 

34 

68 

53 

24 

4 

1 

1 

51  

21 

54 

57 

28 

20 

5 

2 

50  

44 

67 

44 

25 

4 

2 

49.. 

70 

75 

44 

11 

2 

1 

48..  .. 

75 

50 

11 

3 

2 

47  

68 

41 

6 

1 

1 

46  

50 

12 

1 

45 

35 

6 

1 

44  . 

11 

1 

2 

43  

11 

42  

41 

1 

40.. 

1 

39  
38  

i 

37 

i 

36  
35  

*i 

407 

381 

360 

350 

373 

391 

386 

342 

For  complete  tables,  see  Dr.  Bowditch's  Growth  of  Children  in 
Papers  on  Anthropometry,  1894. 


INDIVIDUAL   VARIATIONS. 


163 


Variations  in  Weights  of  Boston  School  Soys,  showing  Number 
of  Soys  of  Each  Age.     (Based  on  Dr.  Bowditch's  Table.) 


POUNDS. 

8  yrs. 

9  yrs. 

10  yrs. 

11  yrs. 

12  yrs. 

13  yrs. 

14  yrs. 

15  yrs. 

186-190. 

1 

182-186. 

178-182. 

174-178. 

170-174. 

1 

166-170. 

1 

1 

162-166. 

1 

158-162. 

1 

154-158. 

1 

1 

150-154. 

1 

4 

146-150. 

*2 

2 

142-146. 

1 

*i 

14 

138-142. 

'l 

3 

5 

12 

134-138. 

1 

1 

9 

13 

330-134. 

, 

. 

3 

9 

20 

126-130. 

. 

'2 

3 

14 

26 

122-126. 

, 

2 

4 

15 

30 

118-122. 

§ 

m 

5 

26 

37 

114-118. 

'i 

12 

35 

44 

110-114. 

p 

. 

5 

15 

34 

59 

106-110. 

'i 

8 

30 

47 

53 

102-106. 

2 

'3 

12 

41 

70 

60 

98-102. 

§ 

3 

16 

59 

69 

56 

94-98.. 

1 

13 

32 

60 

92 

47 

90-94.. 

'i 

4 

16 

57 

93 

103 

50 

86-90.  . 

1 

12 

29 

76 

131 

97 

37 

82-86.. 

'i 

3 

18 

56 

129 

151 

96 

30 

78-82.  . 

i 

2 

42 

100 

157 

177 

72 

19 

74-78.. 

3 

23 

112 

175 

219 

158 

50 

11 

70-74.. 

11 

55 

166 

235 

219 

117 

34 

5 

66-70.  . 

30 

121 

270 

258 

144 

52 

20 

3 

62-66.  . 

106 

251 

262 

201 

100 

28 

3 

58-62.. 

210 

343 

227 

117 

36 

10 

2 

54-58.. 

333 

336 

150 

64 

24 

4 

1 

50-54.  . 

424 

208 

79 

18 

8 

1 

46-50.  . 

251 

76 

14 

5 

42-46.  . 

91 

14 

2 

38-42.. 

19 

3 

1 

34-38.. 

1 

1,481 

1,437 

1,363 

1,293 

1,253 

1,160 

908 

636 

The  heights  and  weights  of  girls  vary  fully  as  much 
of  boys.    For  other  ages  see  Dr.  Bowditch's  tables. 


those 


Variations  in  Brain  Weight  of  Eminent  Men.     Compiled  from 
Records  of  Marshall  and  Manouvrier* 


AGE. 

Encephalic  weight. 
Grammes. 

Eminent  man. 

39 

1,457 
1,238 
1,294 
1,403 
1,516 
1,468 
1,409 
1,312 
1,378 
1,358 
1,499 
1,644 
1,520 
1,629 
1,520 
1,503 
1,485 
1,559      . 
1,250 
1,436 
1,533 
1,488 
1,398 
1,415 
1,449 
1,332 
1,830 
1,785 
1,498 
1,512 
1,502 
1,352 
1,516 
1,207 
1,349 
1,390 
1,590 
1,410 
1  226 
1,492 
1,254 
1,403 
1,452 
1,290 
1,516 

Skobeleff,  Russian  general. 
G.  Harless,  physiologist. 
Garabetta,  statesman. 
Assezat,  political  writer. 
Chauncey  Wright,  mathematician. 
Asseline,  political  writer. 
J.  Huber,  philosopher. 
Seizel,  sculptor. 
Coudereau,  physician. 
Hermann,  philologist. 
Puchs,  pathologist. 
Thackeray,  novelist. 
De  Morny,  statesman. 
Goodsir,  anatomist. 
Derichlet,  mathematician. 
Schleich,  writer. 
Broca,  anthropologist. 
Spurzheim,  phrenologist. 
V.  Lasaulx,  physician. 
Dupuytren,  surgeon. 
J.  Simpson,  physician. 
Pfeufer,  physician. 
Bertillon,  anthropologist. 
Melchior  Mayer,  poet. 
Lamarque,  general. 
J.  Hughes  Bennett,  physician. 
G.  Cuvier,  naturalist. 
Abercrombie,  physician. 
De  Morgan,  mathematician. 
Agassiz,  naturalist. 
Chalmers,  preacher. 
Liebig,  chemist. 
Daniel  Webster,  statesman. 
DOllinger,  anatomist. 
Fallmerayer,  historian. 
Whewell,  philosopher. 
Hermann,  economist. 
Grote,  historian. 
Hausemann,  mineralogist. 
Gauss,  mathematician. 
Tiedemann,  anatomist. 
Babbage,  mathematician. 
Ch.  H.  Bischoff,  physician. 
Grant,  anatomist. 
Campbell,  lord  chancellor. 

40     .. 

43  

45  

43 

49 

49  ...     . 

50  (?) 

50  
52     

52 

53 

54  

54  

55  

56     ... 

56  

57  

57 

59  

60  

60     . 

62  

62  (!)  .  . 

63  

63     .. 

63  

64  

65 

66  

67  

70  

70  

71 

71  ...      . 

71  

73  .. 

75  ... 

77  

78 

79  ... 

79  

79  

80     . 

82.. 

Donaldson's  Growth  of  the  Brain,  p.  128. 
164 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  1(J5 

The  following  brain  weights  are  also  recorded : 
Oliver  Cromwell,  2,231  grammes;  Byron,  2,238  grammes; 
Turgenieff,  2,021  grammes;  but  these  are  perhaps  with- 
out satisfactory  collateral  evidence,  unless  it  be  in  the 
case  of  Turgenieff. 

Certainly  these  tables,  reduced  to  a  composite  and 
shown  in  curves,  are  exceedingly  significant  and  have 
their  places  in  general  considerations  and  plans;  but 
the  point  is  raised  that  no  school  mechanism  can  justly 
answer  the  requirements  of  the  variations  typed  in 
small  degree  by  these  physical  conditions.  If  there 
exists  this  range  of  physiological  differences,  repre- 
sented here  by  heights  and  weights  only,  besides  which 
are  an  endless  and  limitless  number  of  other  factors,  it 
can  be  depended  on  that  there  is  an  infinitely  greater 
variation  in  the  psychological  characteristics.* 

Psychic  Variations. — Notwithstanding  the  wide  vari- 
ations in  the  general  physical  characteristics  of  children, 
which  are  faintly  hinted  in  heights  and  weights,  the 
variations  in  psychological  characteristics  are  infinitely 
greater.  The  tables  of  brain  weights  given  by  Vierordt 
and  Boyd  are  of  great  general  value,  but  the  characteris- 
tics which  make  the  child,  the  man,  or  the  woman  can 
never  be  measured  in  ounces  or  grammes.  The  immense 
range  in  brain  weights  indicated  in  the  tables  of  Mar- 
shall, Manouvrier,  Bischoff,  Vierordt,  and  Boyd,  and  the 
finer  quality  of  the  mind  of  woman  compared  with  man, 
must  forever  establish  the  fact  that  the  human  mind  is 

*  C.  W.  Hetherington,  formerly  instructor  at  Stanford  Uni- 
versity, but  now  at  Clark  University,  has  for  several  years  been 
working  on  a  Psychology  of  Individual  Differences,  which,  when 
completed,  will  open  up  an  enormous  field  of  possibilities. 


166  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

conditioned  by  physical  organs  and  environment  only  in 
elementary  ways,  above  which  the  transcendentalism  of 
the  psychic  and  the  infinite  variations  of  the  ego  find 
illimitable  expression.  The  personal  equation  is  a  com- 
posite absolutely  unique.  The  varying  circumstances 
and  constituencies  of  an  endlessly  diversified  heredity, 
modified  still  more  by  an  environment  never  identical, 
and  all  the  countless  elements  which  attend  a  life  of 
free-will  agency,  contribute  to  make  each  individual  a 
personality  peculiar  to  himself.  Far  more  than  differ 
the  leaves  of  the  forest  man  is  differentiated  in  his  wide 
range  of  psychic  characteristics,  unclassifiable  and  illim- 
itable. It  is  the  greatness  of  man  that  he  is  infinite  in 
the  range  of  individuality;  and  the  world  is  richest  in 
the  individual's  reaction  in  achievement,  in  contribu- 
tion, in  co-operation,  and  in  happiness. 

Every  teacher  has  before  her  in  the  school  room 
a  variation  in  human  history,  in  individual  abilities, 
and  in  unbounded  future  that  needs  no  outside  illustra- 
tions to  establish  the  doctrine  here  advanced.  No  two 
classes  are  alike  in  abilities,  and  no  two  children  of 
even  the  same  parents  are  duplicates.  How  infinitely 
greater,  then,  must  be  the  variations  in  personality  of 
the  forty  or  fifty  individuals  who  have  come  to  the 
present  with  all  the  wide  range  of  conditioning  fac- 
tors that  enter  into  life!  The  recognition  of  these  indi- 
vidual differences  must  be  fundamental  in  scientific 
education. 

The  existence  and  range  of  these  variations  have 
been  but  faintly  comprehended  in  the  policies  of  schools. 
Children  of  all  degrees  of  ability,  opportunity,  natural 
endowment,  and  life  purpose  have  been  classed  together. 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  ICY 

Three  factors — the  child's  best  development,  a  time 
element,  and  uniformity  in  requirement,  which  can 
never  constitute  a  perfect  unity — have  been  the  erro- 
neous and  impossible  trinity  of  the  schoolman's  ignis 
fatuus.  Under  the  operations  of  this  uniformity  these 
wide-ranged  variations  have  disappeared  from  view. 
School  people  have  been  thinking  of  an  average  which 
conserves  really  only  a  small  number  of  pupils  and  loses 
sight  of  an  almost  infinite  range  of  variations  not  easily 
recognised.  Attention  is  once  more  directed  to  the 
table  of  ages.*  It  is  apparent  that  the  average  age 
completely  loses  sight  of  the  enormous  number  of  indi- 
vidual extremes,  which  in  this  case  is  startling. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  a  graded  school  fairly 
well  gathers  together  in  classes  those  of  uniform  ability. 
The  fallacy  of  this  policy  is  well  shown  in  the  various 
tables  indicating  the  differentiation  of  working  abilities, 
elsewhere  presented.!  The  very  existence  of  these  dif- 
ferences in  abilities  demands  that  the  school  must  give 
individual  opportunity. 

It  is  frequently  supposed  that  the  senior  class  in 
the  high  school,  representing  as  it  does  the  survival  of 
the  most  favoured,  is  fairly  well  graded.  Let  us  see 
if  this  is  the  case.  From  many  studies  throwing  light 
on  this  question,  attention  is  directed  to  the  one  on  the 
following  page  from  the  Field  High  School  of  Leomin- 
ster,  Mass.  Mr.  Wallace  E.  Mason,  the  principal,  is  one 

*  Table  of  Ages,  Chapter  II,  p.  19. 

f  The  reader  is  requested  to  turn  back  to  the  tables  represent- 
ing the  differences  in  working  abilities  as  shown  in  the  studies  of 
the  free  working  classes  in  Latin  and  mathematics,  described  in 
Chapter  II,  pp.  29  and  33. 
13 


SENIOR  REVIEW  GEOMETRY,  FIELD  HIGH  SCHOOL, 
LEOMINSTER,   MASS. 

September  6  to  December  14, 1899.    Lineal  measurement  of  work  accomplished  by 
class  of  26  pupils.    The  figures  at  the  top  represent  units  of  work. 


10  20  30  40  50  60  70  80  90  100  110  120  130  140  150  160  170 

79 

114 

ias 

1G8 

101 

134 

167 

54 

83 

103 

1 

J3 

138 

65 

87 

40 

56 

87 

59 

I 

1 

73 

1 

51 

107 

46 

1 

63 

118 

168 


INDIVIDUAL   VARIATIONS.  169 

of  the  leading  individualists  of  the  country,  and  from 
many  studies  similar  to  this  has  long  since  recognised 
the  injustice  of  herding  children. 

On  the  very  face  of  this  enormous  variation  in  the 
working  abilities  of  a  senior  class,  how  utterly  unjust 
is  the  practice  of  ranking  pupils  by  honour  or  any  mech- 
anism which  compares  that  which  can  not  be  compared! 

" But"  says  some  one,,  "  this  surely  can  not  repre- 
sent an  average  high  school." 

It  does  not  represent  an  average  high  school,  for 
in  its  essential  conservations  it  is  infinitely  above  the 
average  high  school.  But  this  much  is  true:  every 
attempt  made  in  this  country  (and  illustration  could 
be  made  by  scores  of  examples)  to  permit  pupils  to 
work  according  to  their  natural  abilities  has  shown 
approximately  the  same  wide  range  of  variations.  (See 
tables  in  Chapter  II.) 

What  is  the  graded  school  going  to  do  with  these 
pupils  who  have  covered  only  fifty  or  sixty  units  of 
work?  Are  they  qualified  for  graduation?  Certainly 
they  are  as  far  as  anything  is  shown  by  this  table. 
But  suppose  a  lower  class  in  the  ordinary  elementary 
or  secondary  school  exhibits  this  range  of  variation; 
what  becomes  of  the  pupil  accomplishing  only  forty  or 
forty-six  units  ? 

"Such  a  pupil"  replies  some  schoolman,  "is  never 
permitted  to  do  only  forty  or  fifty  units.  He  is  helped 
on  by  the  momentum  of  the  class" 

I  will  tell  you  what  becomes  of  him.  If  he  holds 
his  courage  together  long  enough  to  get  that  far  along 
he  is  rushed  over  work  he  does  not  understand.  If  he 
is  not  promoted,  he  repeats  exactly  the  same  work  he 


170  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

had  before;  a  year  is  taken  right  out  of  his  life.  If 
he  does  not  repeat  the  grade,  his  work  is  full  of  rotten 
places  on  which  no  solid  superstructure  can  be  built. 
Is  it  a  matter  of  any  surprise  that  school  work  has  no 
personal  interest  to  him,  that  he  goes  "  as  the  quarry 
slave  scourged"  to  his  task,  that  he  is  a  miserable 
misfit,  to  be  dubbed,  by  the  ignorance  of  the  school,  a 
dullard  or  a  dunce?  But  the  fact  of  the  matter  is,  he 
is  soon  crowded  out  and  is  not  counted  in  the  "  number 
belonging." 

On  the  other  hand,  what  opportunity  in  the  graded 
school  has  the  pupil  who  has  accomplished  168  units  of 
work,  or  the  two  with  167  units?  Certainly  more  than 
the  one  of  40  units,  because  three  fourths  of  the  teach- 
er's time  is  usually  spent  on  the  bright  pupils.  But 
have  these  rapid  workers  full,  free  opportunity  to  live 
up  to  the  best  that  is  within  them?  And,  after  all, 
in  the  light  of  the  world's  experience  with  the  flower- 
ing of  great  men,  is  it  not  a  mistake  for  the  school 
to  say  who  are  the  superior  souls,  and  whether  they  are 
to  be  found  among  the  precocious  or  the  plodders? 

Says  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale :  *  ' 1 1  came  home  at 
the  end  of  the  first  month  with  a  report  which  showed 
that  I  was  ninth  in  a  class  of  fifteen.  That  is  about  the 
average  rank  which  I  generally  had.  I  showed  it  to 
my  mother  because  I  had  it.  I  thought  she  would  not 
like  it.  To  my  great  surprise  and  relief  she  said  it 
was  a  good  report.  I  said  I  thought  she  would  be  dis- 
pleased because  I  was  so  low  in  the  class.  f  Oh/  she 
said,  f  that  is  no  matter.  Probably  the  other  boys  are 

*  Dr.  Hale,  in  How  I  was  Educated. 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  171 

brighter  than  you.  God  made  them  so,  and  you  can 
not  help  that.' " 

In  a  recent  address  before  the  British  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, Dr.  G.  E.  Shuttleworth  remarks:  *  "  A  rational 
educational  system  will  of  course  recognise  the  fact  that 
all  children  are  not  cast  in  the  same  mould ;  that  there 
are  inherent,  often  inherited,  differences  in  each  pupil's 
powers,  and  that  to  obtain  the  best  results,  instruction 
must  be  adapted  to  idiosyncrasies  and  proportioned  to 
varying  capacities." 

Evolution,  in  its  uplift  of  all  life  and  particularly 
in  the  ascent  of  man,  has  reached  its  heights  through 
processes  that  have  always  recognised  the  values  of 
strengths.  If  the  differences  in  innate  potentiality 
count  for  nothing,  then  there  is  no  use  of  the  horti- 
culturist exercising  care  in  the  selection  of  seeds;  one 
kind  will  produce  as  good  fruit  as  another.  If  natural 
endowment  had  contributed  nothing  to  progress  and 
achievement,  a  sorry  world  this  would  be.  Success  in 
future  mission  is  dependent  on  the  evolution  of  the 
innate  in  man  in  adjustment  to  the  purposes  of  life. 
It  is  a  revelation  to  note  that  the  creators  in  the  world 
of  science  and  industry  have  to  no  considerable  extent 
come  up  through  the  graded  school ;  that  the  successful 
business  men  of  the  day  were  not  trained  in  the  city; 
and  that  even  the  students  who  have  knocked  at  the 
door  of  the  college  have  largely  come  from  outside  our 
mechanical  system. 

Several  questions  present  themselves  for  considera- 
tion. First,  to  what  extent  should  the  school  aim  at 

*  Dr.  G.  E.  Shuttleworth,  in  Mental  Overstrain  in  Education, 


172  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

symmetrical  development?  Second,  should  it  be  built 
primordially  for  development  along  lines  of  strength? 
Third,  how  shall  individual  training  be  possible  in  mass 
education?  Fourth,  what  place  has  individuation  in 
the  preparation  of  man  for  his  higher  sociologistic  re- 
lations ? 

Question  first:  To  what  extent  shall  the  school  aim 
at  symmetrical  development? 

Simply  for  the  correction  of  weaknesses  in  so  far  as 
they  condition  man's  happiness  and  the  normal  exercise 
of  higher  faculties.  But  these  weaknesses  must  be 
reached  by  their  individual  recognition  and  by  pre- 
scription of  exercises  best  calculated  for  their  cor- 
rection. This  opens  up  a  field  infinitely  larger  than 
the  school  has  ever  attempted  to  occupy.  To  whatever 
extent  related  studies  and  exercises  condition  the  best 
expression  of  higher  faculty  and  endowment,  symmet- 
rical education  has  something  to  offer,  but  no  further. 

What  folly  there  has  been  in  putting  a  surfeit  of 
mathematics  on  certain  girls,  when  there  may  be  a  hun- 
dred other  departments  of  work  in  her  particular  field 
where  these  girls  may  surpass  their  schoolmates !  This 
one  practice,  illustrative  of  others,  tells  of  a  fearful  mis- 
application and  loss  of  energy  which  could  have  been 
utilized  with  enriching  results  in  the  best  development 
of  the  pupil. 

Question  second:  Shall  the  school  be  built  primor- 
dially for  development  along  lines  of  strength? 

Most  certainly  so,  with  all  normal  individuals. 
With  the  general  correction  of  weaknesses  already  dis- 
cussed, and  with  enough  of  general  introduction  and 
survey  to  enable  the  pupils  to  choose  wisely,  education 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  173 

should  early  take  on  a  recognition  of  natural  endow- 
ments, chief  interests,  and  well-defined  trend.  Man 
is  too  complex  to  permit  much  development  in  all  di- 
rections. Besides,  he  was  not  created  symmetrical,  as 
the  world  counts  symmetry,  and  in  his  life  upward  he 
has  reached  all  his  achievements  in  science,  industry, 
literature  and  art  through  the  exercises  of  faculties 
wherein  he  has  been  individually  the  most  gifted.  We 
need  an  education  of  differences,  of  parts  wherein  man 
is  individually  the  strongest.  As  President  Jordan  has 
better  said,  if  a  man  proposes  to  climb  a  high  mountain 
it  does  not  pay  him  to  waste  his  energies  in  climbing 
all  the  foothills  in  the  neighbourhood.  Even  so,  it  is 
a  good  thing  for  a  young  person  early  to  find  his  lead- 
ing interest  and  then  give  opportunity  for  his  growing 
strength. 

Question  third:  How  shall  individual  training  be 
possible  in  mass  education? 

The  solution  of  a  problem  so  vast  as  this  certainly 
has  its  very  great  difficulties.  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances it  is  almost  impossible  to  do  much,  for  the 
moment  attempt  is  made  to  conserve  the  interest  of 
the  individual,  just  then  education  becomes  complex 
and  continues  to  grow  in  difficulty  in  proportion  as 
such  conservation  is  realized.  But  that  is  not  the  first 
issue  to  be  considered.  If  the  best  education  of  child 
or  man  is  reached  through  his  consideration  as  a  per- 
sonal being,  requiring  a  specific  study  of  his  nature  and 
interests  and  an  individual  prescription  of  exercises 
best  calculated  to  give  free  expression  to  his  growing 
strength ;  if  his  education  is  to  continue  all  the  natural 
processes  which,  through  evolution,  has  given  us  the 


174  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

glory  of  all  life;  and  if  it  is  to  respect  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  divine  economy  as  exemplified  in 
all  that  goes  toward  the  making  of  character — then  the 
first  duty  for  the  educator  is  to  attempt  to  furnish 
that  education.  The  fact  that  the  individual  must  find 
his  education  in  contact  with  the  mass  is  entirely  to 
his  advantage;  but  he  in  turn  has  the  most  to  offer 
the  mass  in  proportion  as  he  is  educated  as  an  indi- 
vidual. The  details  presented  in  our  discussion  of 
methods  will  give  some  living  illustration  of  how  enter- 
prising teachers  are  finding  their  way  to  an  effective 
answer  to  this  question. 

Question  fourth :  What  place  has  individuation  in  the 
preparation  of  man  for  his  higher  sociologistic  re- 
lations ? 

Let  not  the  position  of  the  individualists  be  misun- 
derstood. There  is  no  intelligent  one  of  them  who  be- 
lieves in  isolation,  or  who  despises  the  proper  place  of 
the  class  and  of  the  lecture,  or  who  forgets  man's  rela- 
tions to  his  fellows.  The  individualist  holds  that  the 
school  must  fit  the  child;  that  it  must  eliminate  uni- 
formity in  requirement,  passive  waiting,  dead  time, 
repetition  of  lessons  because  of  others'  faults,  premature 
skipping  and  half-way  performance  of  important  exer- 
cises, non-promotion,  bad  motive,  and  unjust  rivalry. 
He  demands  that  there  must  be  recognition  of  heredity 
and  environment  and  trend  as  conditioning  factors; 
that  there  must  be  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  natu- 
ral endowment,  living  interest,  and  choice;  that  there 
must  be  continuous  progress,  daily  promotion,  the  per- 
formance of  work  of  specific  fitness,  and  the  working  of 
one's  soul  into  the  process;  that  there  must  be  closer 


INDIVIDUAL  VARIATIONS.  175 

and  more  sympathetic  association  with  higher  person- 
ality; and  that  all  of  one's  education  must  be  related 
to  life  purposes.  Every  school  plan  must  be  tried  by 
the  test  to  what  extent  it  better  fits  man  for  his  rela- 
tions with  his  fellows;  in  what  way  he  can  make  the 
highest  contribution  to  the  happiness  and  enjoyment 
of  mankind.  This  is  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the 
better  education  of  the  individual.  The  perfection  of 
the  community  is  dependent  on  the  perfection  of  the 
individual.  "  The  best  field  of  corn  is  that  in  which 
the  individual  stalks  are  most  strong  and  most  fruit- 
ful. The  strongest  nation  is  that  in  which  the  indi- 
vidual man  is  most  helpful  and  most  independent." 
(Jordan.)  There  can  be  no  great  development  of  so- 
ciety excepting  as  the  individual  is  made  the  unit  in 
education.  "  No  chain  is  ever  stronger  than  its  indi- 
vidual links." 

If  the  school  is  to  be  life,  as  Professor  Dewey  says 
it  must  be,  it  can  only  reach  that  realization  by  con- 
forming its  processes  to  life.  All  business  life,  in  the 
rise  and  fall  of  commercial  man,  is  conditioned  upon 
the  individual.  Man's  industries  and  achievements  in 
every  field  of  science,  literature,  art,  and  economics  have 
no  other  foundation.  The  law  of  the  court  recognises 
only  individual  responsibility.  The  church  accepts  no 
other  person's  confession  of  faith.  In  the  whole  realm 
of  ethics  and  divine  economy,  all  for  the  benefit  of 
universal  man,  there  is  no  recognition  of  any  plan  by 
which  society  may  become  strong  and  good,  excepting 
as  the  individual  unit  is  strong  and  good.  It  is  the 
universal  law  of  Nature,  of  man,  and  of  God.  In  no 
other  way  can  come  being,  growth,  and  salvation. 


176  AN    IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Then  the  individualist  is  the  true  sociologist,  be- 
cause he  furnishes  the  only  foundation  on  which  good 
society  can  be  built — the  capable  unit.  To  ignore,  sim- 
ply from  the  suggestion  of  the  term,  the  high  purposes 
and  ultimate  end  of  individualism,  is  a  misconception 
of  great  ideals.  The  individualogistic  purposes  in  edu- 
cation have  no  value  whatever  excepting  as  they  are 
swallowed  up  in  the  higher  sociologistic  relations  of 
man,  of  which  they  form  the  nucleus  essence.  By  this 
measure  of  sociologistic  value  everything  in  the  plans  to 
follow  should  le  tested. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

ILLUSTKATIVE   METHODS. 

"  Did  the  Almighty,  holding  in  his  right  hand  Truth  and  in 
his  left  hand  Search  after  Truth,  deign  to  tender  me  the  one  I 
might  prefer,  in  all  humility  but  without  hesitation  I  would 
request  Search  after  Truth."  (Lessing.) 

UNDERSTANDING  now  that  our  school  is  to  be  or- 
ganized under  ideal  circumstances,  and  with  proper  cor- 
relations, it  is  desirable  that  the  division  of  instruction 
should  be  largely  departmental  for  all  grades  above  the 
play  school.  The  arguments  for  this  form  of  organiza- 
tion are: 

1.  That  the  child  may  be  in  contact  with  the  richer 
suggestions  of  several  minds. 

2.  That  the  child  may  be  longer  in  association  with  a 
given  teacher  for  the  sake  of  personal  influence  and  that 
his  work  may  be  better  related  and  more  continuous. 

3.  That  he  may  have,  in  his  early  years,  the  same 
high  quality  of  instruction  that  has  been  vouchsafed 
to  the  university  student. 

4.  That  every  study  may  have   its  well-equipped 
laboratory,  which  is  largely  impossible  when  equipment 
is  divided  up  and  duplicated  in  many  scattered  schools. 

"  I  call  your  first  proposition  into  discussion  at  once," 
remarks  some  grammar  master.  ff  Wherein  is  the  su- 
perior value  of  contact  with  several  minds?" 

177 


178  AN    IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

With  several  teachers  the  child's  views  of  life  are 
more  normal,  each  being  corrective  of  the  other;  his 
conceptions  are  fed  from  a  richer  source,  just  as  one 
gets  more  from  a  glimpse  into  the  gardens  of  an 
expert  horticulturist  than  he  does  in  the  garden  of 
the  ordinary  home;  just  as  also  the  child  who  has  trav- 
elled and  seen  much  has  the  wider  fund  of  knowl- 
edge on  which  to  base  his  imagination  and  generaliza- 
tions. 

"I  agree  with  you"  says  a  teacher,  "in  your  state- 
ment that  a  pupil's  work  in  a  given  subject  may  be  bet- 
ter connected,  freer  from  rotten  places  and  overlaps 
with  more  opportunity  for  short-cuts,  and  may  be  done 
in  a  shorter  time;  but  how  about  the  question  of  in- 
fluence? How  can  the  teacher  have  as  much  chance 
to  know  the  child  and  for  influence,  when  there  are, 
say,  five  teachers,  giving  her  only  one  fifth  of  the  child's 
time?" 

On  the  basis  of  one  year's  procedure,  I  admit  that 
there  might  be  loss  in  this  respect;  but  we  must  not 
forget  that  the  same  teacher  would  be  with  the  child 
for  five  years  and  probably  longer.  This  of  itself  is 
more  than  compensation. 

Is  not  the  discipline  more  difficult  when  the  work  is 
departmental? 

It  is  more  difficult,  because  the  weakness  of  an  in- 
ferior teacher  becomes  more  apparent.  The  pupils  have 
opportunity  to  know  good  and  bad,  and  rebel  against 
imposition.  It  is  infinitely  better  that  this  should  be 
the  case  than  that  a  child  should  remain  five-fifths  time 
under  a  poor  teacher.  Besides,  it  soon  weeds  out  the 
poor  teacher. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  179 

Do  you  think  that  the  quality  of  the  instruction 
would  be  better? 

Most  certainly  I  do.  It  would  raise  all  teaching  to 
the  level  of  the  specialist.  Probably  not  more  than  one 
third  of  our  teachers  can  properly  give  instruction  in 
music,  and  scarcely  more  than  that  number  can  do  very 
high  work  in  drawing.  It  is  probable  this  would  appear 
true  of  all  the  other  studies,  if  the  inadequacies  were 
as  easily  recognised.  It  is  not  simply  that  teachers 
are  not  endowed  equally,  but  they  have  not  time  to  pre- 
pare for  universal  work  to  any  high  degree  of  excel- 
lence. Departmental  work  ploughs  much  deeper  fur- 
rows. Besides,  it  would  bring  the  descent  of  higher 
scholarship  and  higher  method  into  the  lower  grade 
school.  Sometimes  there  is  more  education  in  a  single 
half  hour  in  contact  with  a  superior  soul  than  in  a  month 
of  ordinary  school-room  work  where  no  one  exercise  can 
be  very  much  vitalized  with  great  inspiration. 

" I  have  observed"  remarks  some  interested  mother, 
<!  that  departmental  work  often  leads  to  overdemand 
from  the  teachers.  As  each  teacher  is  anxious  to  get 
full  value  to  her  department  and  does  not  know  how 
much  assignment  of  work  has  been  made  by  other 
teachers,  the  child  is  worked  up  to  the  highest  notch  of 
endeavour  and  frequently  much  overworked" 

That  is  true  under  the  older  forms  of  work  where 
the  work  is  performed  under  assignment  of  the  day  be- 
fore; but  in  our  school  there  is  no  technical  study  out 
of  school.  The  work  is  largely  laboratory.  All  the 
child's  time,  devoted  to  any  given  study,  is  performed 
in  that  laboratory;  and  when  he  leaves  that  room  he 
also  leaves  that  department  of  work.  The  child  has 


180  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

opportunity  to  do  to-day  just  what  he  can  do  to-day. 
To-morrow's  work  takes  care  of  itself  when  to-mor- 
row comes. 

Would  you  have  the  pupils  change  from  room  to 
room,  or  would  the  teachers  exchange  places® 

Preferably  the  pupils  should  change.  This  enables 
us  to  centre  equipment  in  a  given  room  and  make  it 
a  laboratory  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Think,  under 
the  plan  of  a  school  park  where  hundreds  of  children 
of  approximately  the  same  age  are  gathered  together, 
of  the  enormous  opportunity  there  would  thus  be  to 
centralize  equipment,  otherwise  scattered  and  dupli- 
cated, in  the  enrichment  of  the  various  laboratories,  and 
yet  at  much  less  expense.  The  school  furniture  would 
be  of  the  right  size.  The  several  rooms,  of  even  the 
same  department,  would  be  grouped  together  with  adap- 
tation for  study,  laboratory  work,  seminar,  lantern 
illustration,  and  lecture.  Literature  would  be  taught 
in  a  library;  science  would  have  its  rooms  for  all  kinds 
of  investigations;  the  history  room  would  be  adorned 
with  globes,  charts,  pictures,  reliefs,  books,  curios,  and 
original  data;  mathematics  would  have  its  tools  and 
instruments  for  measurement  and  application;  geog- 
raphy, its  globes,  reliefs,  maps,  books  of  travel,  speci- 
mens, museum  and  representative  forms;  art  would 
have  its  studio;  music,  its  concert  chamber;  the  gymna- 
sium, its  room  for  measurements,  mechanical  room, 
exercise  room,  play  room,  and  baths;  manual  training, 
its  shops  of  different  trades,  etc. 

The  centralization  of  the  barren  rooms  and  meagre 
equipment,  ordinarily  scattered  through  a  city  because 
of  many  buildings  and  repeated  duplications,  into  a 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  181 

single  great  plant  like  that  described,  would  give,  with- 
out extra  expense,  a  miniature  world  and  opportunities 
of  such  character  that  even  the  child  in  the  primary 
school  would  be  lifted  into  the  richer  atmosphere  that 
has  hitherto  belonged  exclusively  to  university  life.  In 
less  degree,  departmental  work,  under  proper  organi- 
zation, has  its  value  in  any  school.* 

It  is  to  be  recognised,  however,  that  in  departmental 
organization  there  is  always  possible  some  correlation 
of  related  subjects  around  major  factors.  This  mate- 
rially simplifies  the  programme,  does  away  with  so 
much  fragmentary  work,  and  greatly  economizes  time 
and  effort. 

How  about  the  time  wasted  and  the  difficulties  in 
discipline  attending  on  such  movements  of  pupils®- 

There  is  never  time  wasted  in  the  intervals  between 
exercises.  As  far  as  the  difficulties  in  discipline  go,  it 
is  a  good  thing  that  there  should  be  some  free  vent  and 
movements  between  periods  of  work.  The  best  order  in 
the  world  can  be  found  in  a  graveyard.  However,  dif- 
ficulties of  this  kind  arise  largely  from  lack  of  proper 
organization.  In  one  of  Superintendent  Vansickle's 
schools  in  North  Denver,  Colo.,  I  saw  a  thousand  chil- 
dren moving  freely  in  the  halls,  with  no  direct  super- 
vision, but  without  the  least  disturbance. 

PHYSICAL  CULTURE. 

The  problems  involved  in  the  physical  training  of 
children  are  those  pertaining  to  food,  sleep,  exercise, 


*  See  President  Eliot's  address  on  Secondary  Schools  before 
the  New  York  Convocation  in  1895,  Bulletin  No.  32. 


182  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

proper  mental  stimuli.,  and,  for  some  cases,  mechanical 
correction  of  malformations. 

Food. — Even  in  this  enlightened  age  the  essential 
elements  and  distinctive  purposes  of  foods  are  little 
understood  by  those  who  have  the  feeding  of  children. 
The  fact  that  all  children  can  not  well  be  fed  alike,  that 
there  are  differences  between  the  child  and  the  adult, 
and  that  different  kinds  of  occupations  frequently  call 
for  specific  foods,  enters  to  no  considerable  extent  into 
our  home  domestic  economy.  There  must  be  a  more 
intelligent  co-ordination  between  the  school  and  the 
home,  for  which  the  home  is  ready  whenever  the  school 
is  prepared  to  lead.  The  home  in  the  past  has  received 
little  from  the  school  in  the  way  of  communications, 
excepting  concerning  delinquencies  for  which  the  school 
probably  has  been  at  fault.  The  enormous  association 
of  mothers  in  club  organizations  throughout  the  coun- 
try, following  the  leadership  largely  of  Superintendent 
Button's  community  work  *  at  Brookline,  Mass.,  pre- 
sents an  opportunity  which  the  school  should  utilize. 
If  capable  school  people,  under  wise  procedure,  will 
prepare  suggestions  for  the  scientific  feeding  of  chil- 
dren, the  mothers  of  this  country  will  rise  up  and  call 
such  a  school  blessed.  The  delightful  little  mono- 
graph, Suggestions  for  School  Work,  prepared  by  the 
Women's  Club  (1,000  members),  of  Denver,  Colo.,  is  a 
magnificent  illustration  of  what  earnest  helpfulness 
may  do  from  one  side  of  this  question.  Now,  what  can 
the  school  do  from  its  own  well-qualified  standpoint? 

The  pupil's  book  of  prescribed  directions  concerning 

*  Button's  Social  Phases  in  Education. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  183 

food,  sleep,  and  exercises,  prepared  by  Miss  Caroline 
B.  Palmer  *  for  her  six  hundred  girls  in  the  Oakland 
(Cal.)  High  School,  is  the  best  thing  on  this  subject 
yet  issued  by  any  school. 

In  our  ideal  school  the  noonday  meal,  and  perhaps 
two  meals  for  the  little  ones,  will  be  served  at  the 
school;  not  to  save  time,  but  as  a  desirable  school  ex- 
ercise. This  will  not  be  the  questionable  lunch  fur- 
nished in  many  schools,  but  a  better  meal  of  proper 
food,  to  be  followed  by  ample  relaxation  and  play.  Such 
a  meal  is  also  a  valuable  social  and  economic  exercise, 
of  great  influence  in  carrying  higher  ideals  into  many 
homes. 

Cooking,  taught  in  the  schools,  will  be  a  great  help 
in  leading  to  a  day  when  school  children  will  be  better 
fed.  The  drinking  of  an  abundance  of  pure,  distilled 
water  needs  also  encouragement  from  the  school.  Few 
people  drink  enough  water. 

Sleep. — The  importance  of  adequate  rest  can  scarce- 
ly be  too  much  emphasized.  As  a  rule,  students  do 
not  spend  enough  time  in  sleep ;  and  the  hours  actually 
spent  in  sleep  do  not  always  have  full  time  given  to 
relaxation.  Normal  fatigue  in  itself  is  a  good  thing; 
but  no  one  "  has  a  right  to  incur  more  fatigue  in  a  dav 
than  the  sleep  of  the  next  night  will  recover  from  " 
(Drew).  To  go  without  adequate  sleep  should  be  re- 
garded as  a  physical  crime,  and  this  fact  should  be 
taught  by  the  school.  As  has  already  been  stated,  the 
children  of  ages  five,  six,  and  seven  need  approximately 

*  Miss  Palmer  was  formerly  associated  with  the  coterie  of 
workers  having  in  charge  the  educational  experiments  connected 
with  the  Industrial  Public  Schools  of  Pueblo,  Colo. 
14 


184  AN    IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

twelve  hours  of  regular  sleep;  of  ages  eight,  nine,  and 
ten  need  eleven  hours;  of  ages  eleven,  twelve,  thirteen, 
and  fourteen,  ten  hours;  of  ages  fifteen,  sixteen,  and 
seventeen,  nine  hours  or  more;  and  even  students  of  the 
college  and  university  can  not  well  afford  to  take  less. 
The  desirability  of  a  midday  nap  for  all  ages  should  not 
be  overlooked.  Children  should  be  educated  to  the  doc- 
trine that  no  one  ever  loses  time  by  seeking  rest  and 
recuperation. 

This  is  another  subject  where  the  co-operation  of 
the  home  and  school  is  essential.  It  is  a  legitimate 
province  for  suggestion  from  the  school. 

From  the  practices  of  the  Pestalozzi-Froebel  House, 
of  Berlin,  there  comes  a  suggestion  for  the  play  school. 
At  midday,  after  the  hour  of  play  intermission,  the 
children,  thirty  or  forty  in  number  of  kindergarten  age, 
are  gathered  in  a  large  room,  where  on  floor  rugs  each 
one  stretches  himself  out  for  his  noon  nap.  The  win- 
dows are  darkened,  the  children  close  their  eyes,  soft 
music  is  played,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  entire  school  is 
asleep.  Why  should  a  child  asleep  at  his  desk  in  an 
American  school  be  such  an  unusual  thing? 

Physical  Exercise. — We  come  now  to  the  considera- 
tion of  exercise.  Nothing  in  all  the  possibilities  of  the 
school  can  take  the  place  of  free  play.  Calisthenics  are 
right  in  their  place,  but  play  is  the  law  of  growth.  The 
best  exhibition  in  the  United  States  of  play  as  a  school 
factor  can  be  seen  at  Andover,  Mass.  Here  sixteen 
acres  or  more  are  the  playground  of  670  pupils.  The 
entire  school  plays — teachers  and  all.  Such  a  repertoire 
of  plays,  calling  into  co-operation  the  entire  school,  no- 
where else  was  ever  seen.  And  what  delighted  children 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  185 

and  equally  profited  teachers!  What  merry  laughter, 
sparkling  eyes,  ruddy  cheeks,  and  active  limbs!  And, 
after  that,  what  sympathy  in  the  school  room  and  turn- 
ing of  other  energy  on  delighted  work  !* 

Here  is  the  sand  yard  for  the  little  ones;  grounds 
for  basket-ball,  tennis  (three  courts),  baseball,  and  run- 
ning games  for  the  older  ones;  games  of  all  kinds  for 
the  entire  school;  and  without  are  the  passers-by,  paus- 
ing in  the  street  to  watch  the  merry  children  at  play, 
and  wishing  themselves  young  again. 

Besides,  play  being  Nature's  normal  exercise,  no- 
where else  can  the  teacher  gain  such  an  influence  for 
good  over  her  pupils.  To  the  glory  of  Andover,  be  it 
said,  the  teachers  all  play.  What  a  happy  spectacle, 
also,  it  has  been  to  see  the  great  president  of  Stanford 
University  playing  baseball  on  the  college  diamond! 
For  three  years  the  university  faculty  team  was  so 
strong  that  the  students  could  not  wrest  from  them 
a  single  victory. 

Tributary  to  effective  results  in  every  other  depart- 
ment of  work,  well-equipped  gymnasiums  occupy  cen- 
tral positions  in  our  plans  for  the  intermediate  and 
high  schools.  Good  health  is  so  much  a  condition  sub- 
ject to  command,  that  the  means  to  such  command  must 
be  carefully  taught.  This  is  not  simply  as  a  means 
to  well-being  in  the  present,  but  also  a  preventive  of 

*  Johnson's  Education  by  Plays  and  Games  (Fed.  Sem.,  vol. 
iii) ;  Johnson's  An  Educational  Experiment  (Fed.  Sem.,  vol.  vi) ; 
Croswell's  Amusements  of  Worcester  Children  (Fed.  Sem.,  vol. 
vi) ;  Gulick's  Psychological,  Pedagogical,  and  Religious  Aspects  of 
Group  Games  (Fed.  Sem.,  vol.  vi)  are  valuable  contributions  to 
the  literature  of  this  subject. 


186  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ill-health  and  escape  therefrom  in  the  future.  The  man 
or  woman  who  in  early  years  has  had  no  physical  train- 
ing, knows  not  where  to  turn  when  overtaken  by  diffi- 
culty; but  the  child  trained  in  the  gymnasium  goes 
forth  to  meet  the  future,  holding  in  his  hands  the  keys 
to  good  health.  If  there  is  nothing  more  than  this  in 
the  benefits  of  physical  culture  in  our  schools,  it  is 
much. 

However,  there  is  more,  for  the  robust  and  well- 
developed  child  in  the  school  is  the  marked  exception. 
A  capable  expert,  watching  the  dismissal  of  several  hun- 
dred children  from  a  school  one  day,  remarked  to  me 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  child  in  the  whole  number 
who  did  not  reveal,  to  his  practised  eye,  some  condition 
of  physical  defect.  Under  our  school  of  better  conform- 
ity to  hygienic  laws  in  all  its  work  there  would  cer- 
tainly be  less  difficulties  of  this  kind.  Still  the  liabili- 
ties to  physical  weakness  are  so  insistent  that  the  well- 
equipped  department,  devoted  to  this  one  fundamental 
essential,  must  be  a  cardinal  feature  of  every  school. 
The  importance  of  regular  habits,  in  exercise  must  be 
established  by  daily  training.  To  make  the  exercises 
anything  less  than  daily  is  to  put  the  work  on  the  same 
level  of 'feeding  by  irregular  meals.  "In  public  health 
is  public  wealth." 

But  from  the  very  start  there  should  be  present  the 
Watchful,  competent  eye  that  seeks  out  the  children  of 
malformation  or  physical  weakness.  These  children 
need  the  removal  of  causes,  and  provision  by  special 
exercises  calculated  to  make  them  strong.  Every  child 
should  be  examined;  and  a  careful  record  should  be 
kept  of  all  weaknesses,  past  sicknesses,  injuries,  and 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  187 

hereditary  tendencies.  Based  on  this  record  should  be 
the  prescription  of  exercises  to  make  the  pupils  strong 
and  to  keep  them  strong.  A  child's  life-book,  giving 
his  physical  record  from  birth  and  from  year  to  year, 
would  be  of  incalculable  benefit.  Certain  team  exer- 
cises and  class  drills  may  be  helpful,  with  exemption  of 
exceptional  pupils;  but  the  basic  element  in  the  treat- 
ment should  be  individual.  Miss  Palmer's  work,  for- 
merly at  Pueblo,  Colo.,  but  now  in  the  Oakland  (Cal.) 
High  School,  is  particularly  noteworthy  in  this  respect. 

With  a  school  plant  so  large  as  contemplated  in 
these  plans,  and  regardful  of  the  frequency  with  which 
children  of  marked  malformations  are  found  among 
large  numbers,  but  thereby  generally  deprived  of  school 
privileges,  a  department  equipped  with  mechanical  ap- 
pliances for  the  correction  of  grievous  physical  difficul- 
ties should  be  possible.  If  the  sanatoriums  are  able 
to  accomplish  such  extraordinary  corrections  by  scien- 
tific mechanical  treatment,  often  in  short  time,  then 
this  important  adjunct  to  the  gymnasium  is  a  perfectly 
legitimate  one  for  the  school  of  large  size.  In  the  days 
of  Sparta,  and  also  in  Plato's  ideal  Eepublic,  these 
children  with  malformations  were  put  to  death  by 
the  state;  but  the  conscience  of  an  enlightened  people 
will  recognise  in  the  triumphs  of  modern  skill  a  depart- 
ment of  work,  of  this  life-saving  character,  essentially 
within  the  province  of  the  coming  school. 

In  the  plans  for  our  quadrangle  school  for  children 
of  the  play  school,  and  also  for  those  in  the  elementary 
school,  there  is  provision  in  the  central  building  for 
the  within-doors  play  room  necessary  for  unfavourable 
weather.  In  our  central  building  in  the  intermediate 


188  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

and  high  school  quadrangles  were  located  also  the  gym- 
nasiums, with  separate  departments  for  the  sexes  in  the 
high  school.  Connected  with  the  gymnasium  should 
be  the  school  baths  and  the  swimming  pools,  and  also 
the  mechanical  room.  The  school  bath  at  Brookline, 
Mass.,*  costing  $50,000,  is  the  finest  thing  of  the  kind 
in  the  United  States.  The  great  swimming  pool,  sur- 
rounded with  its  individual  baths  of  all  kinds,  each  sex 
having  its  assigned  days,  is  a  revelation  to  all  interested 
in  the  possibilities  of  this  desirable  adjunct  of  the 
school. 

The  director  of  the  physical  department  should  also 
have  charge  of  the  cleansing  of  the  buildings,  the  analy- 
sis of  air  and  water,  the  insistence  on  individual  drink- 
ing-cups  and  individual  towels,  the  prescription  of  food, 
the  medical  inspection  of  the  schools,  the  destruction 
of  all  books  exposed  to  contagion,  the  quarantining  of 
special  cases,  the  suggestions  to  the  home  concerning 
health  questions,  the  separation  and  special  treatment 


*  The  Brookline  baths  consist  of  a  large  swimming  tank  for 
general  purposes,  a  smaller  tank  in  the  instruction  room,  a  num- 
ber of  rain  baths  of  the  Gegenstrom  pattern,  dressing  rooms,  direc- 
tor's rooms,  waiting  rooms,  ladies'  hair-dressing  rooms,  etc.  The 
swimming  tanks  are  lined  with  white  glazed  brick  with  floors  of 
light  adamantine  mosaic.  The  main  tank  is  80  feet  long  and  26 
feet  wide,  has  an  average  depth  of  4£  feet,  and  42  surrounding 
dressing  rooms.  There  is  an  abundance  of  light  and  sunshine. 
The  smaller  pool  is  22  feet  long  and  10  feet  wide,  and  has  an  aver- 
age depth  of  3£  feet,  6  large  dressing  rooms,  and  a  rain  bath. 
The  water,  constantly  changing,  is  kept  at  a  temperature  of  78°, 
the  temperature  of  the  room  being  several  degrees  higher.  The 
director  is  a  graduate  doctor,  and  is  assisted  by  a  competent  lady 
instructor. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  189 

of  defectives,  the  limitation  of  school  exercises,  and 
other  questions  pertaining  to  the  children's  health. 

Concerning  the  treatment  of  the  eye,  is  it  altogether 
a  wild  speculation  to  say  that,  as  evolution  has  given 
us  the  eye  in  its  present  shape  and  character  in  response 


CAUTION. 

Reader,  your  eyesight  is  worth  more  to  you 
than  any  information  you  are  likely  to  gain 
from  this  book,  however  valuable  it  may  be. 
You  are  therefore  earnestly  cautioned — 

1.  To  be  sure  that  you  have  sufficient  light, 
and  that  your  position  be  such  that  you  not 
only  avoid  the  direct  rays  upon  your  eyes,  but 
that  you  also  avoid  the  angle  of  reflection.    In 
writing,  the  light  should  be  received  over  the 
left  shoulder. 

2.  That  you  avoid  a  stooping  position  and  a 
forward  inclination  of  the  head.     Hold  the 
book  up.    Sit  erect  also  when  you  write. 

3.  That  at  brief  intervals  you  rest  the  eyes 
by  looking  off  and  away  from  the  book  for  a 
few  moments. 

And  you  are  further  cautioned  to  avoid  as 
much  as  possible  books  and  papers  printed  in 
small  type,  and  especially  such  as  are  poorly 
printed  \  also  to  avoid  straining  or  overtaxing 
the  sight  in  any  way. 

You  may  need  to  be  reminded  of  the  great 
importance  of  thoroughly  cleansing  the  eyes 
with  soft,  pure  water  both  morning  and  even- 
ing. 


to  functional  operations,  there  may  be  in  proper  exer- 
cises for  the  eye  a  possibility  of  training  that  may  be 


190  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

corrective  of  many  of  the  defects  so  common  in  modern 
life,  affecting  shape  of  the  ball  and  lens,  muscles  con- 
trolling adjustments,  and  perhaps  even  the  sensitive- 
ness of  the  retina? 

Books  for  school  use  should  be  printed  on  paper  of  a 
slightly  yellowish  tint  *  and  be  free  from  gloss.  The 
type  should  be  round-faced  and  clear,  and  a  profusion 
of  italics  avoided,  the  page  narrow,  and  the  ink  a  dead 
black.  Every  book  should  have  pasted  on  the  second 
page  of  the  cover  a  caution  similar  to  the  one  on  page 
189,  suggested  by  Dr.  Ward  McLean. f 

NATURE  WORK. 

Dr.  C.  F.  Hodge's  doctrine  of  human  value  in  Na- 
ture Study  excludes  from  the  school  room  the  stuffed 
specimens  of  bird  and  beast,  which  have  done  little  but 
inoculate  the  child's  mind  against  all  love  for  animal 
life;  the  miserable  and  deadening  processes  of  analysis 
and  classification,  which  have  dominated  the  whole  field; 
and  brings  the  child  face  to  face  with  Nature,  which 
he  will  love,  because  all  life  to  him  now  is  full  of 
human  interest. 

Says  John  Burroughs:  J  "  I  recently  read  a  lecture 
on  How  a  Naturalist  is  Trained,  and  I  was  forced  to 
conclude  that  I  was  not  and  never  could  be  a  naturalist 
at  all,  that  I  know  nothing  of  Nature  ...  I  have  loved 
Nature  and  spent  many  of  my  days  in  the  fields  and 

*  Cohn,  Javal,  Blasin,  Kotelmann,  and  the  Hygienic  Congress 
of  1880  at  Turin. 

f  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xiv,  p.  85. 
j  The  Outlook,  February  4,  1899. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  191 

woods  in  as  close  intimacy  with  her  varied  forms  of  life 
as  I  could  bring  about,  but  a  student  of  Nature  in  any 
strict  scientific  sense  I  have  never  been.  What  knowl- 
edge I  possess  of  her  creatures  has  come  to  me  through 
contemplation  and  enjoyment,  rather  than  through  de- 
liberate study  of  her." 

With  the  same  lofty  view  and  noble  purpose,  Dr. 
Hodge  clears  away  the  dead  inanities  which  have  so 
long  killed  in  the  germ  all  childish  interest  in  Na- 
ture study,  and  proceeds  to  construct  a  plan  of  pro- 
cedure that  is  an  inspiration  in  itself.  "  It  is  our  present 
misfortune,"  says  he,*  "to  be  living  under  a  most  in- 
adequate notion,  a  dead-book  museum  conception  of 
science  .  .  .  Science  is  the  unceasing  struggle  of  the 
human  mind  after  truth.  Furthermore,  this  struggle 
is  so  inseparably  linked  with  normal  growth  and  vigor, 
and  so  full  of  the  joy  of  human  action,  that  the  strug- 
gle is  to  be  preferred  above  actual  possession  of  the 
truth  itself  .  .  .  What  we  need,  then,  in  Nature  study, 
as  in  all  other  subjects,  is  a  quality  of  knowledge  which 
shall  be  alive  and  set  the  child's  face  right  toward 
the  universe,  and  thus  form  the  foundation  for  active, 
helpful  living." 

Let  me  describe  something  of  this  work  as  I  have 
seen  it  in  several  visits  to  the  Upsala  School  of  Worces- 
ter, Mass. 

The  characteristic  features  of  the  Nature  study 
work  in  this  school,  at  least  as  far  as  I  have  seen  it, 
are:  1.  The  inspiration  of  every  child  by  the  vitalizing 


*  Hodge's  Foundations  of  Nature  Study.    Pedagogical  Semi- 
nary, April,  1900. 


192  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

conception  that  he  too  may  add  to  the  sum  total  of  the 
world's  happiness  and  knowledge  by  the  growth  of  a 
plant  far  better  than  the  world  has  ever  seen.  2.  In 
the  domestication  and  protection  of  the  wild  birds,  so 
that  all  life,  even  in  the  city,  may  be  glad  with  the  pres- 
ence of  the  singing,  companionable,  and  useful  birds, 
which  under  proper  management  are  really  very  easily 
tamed.  3.  In  the  study  of  the  pests  which  have  made 
horticulture  and,  in  some  instances,  even  human  hap- 
piness impossible;  and  their  subjugation  by  simple 
methods,  so  that  even  a  child  may  "have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air, 
and  over  the  cattle,  and  over  all  the  earth,  and  over 
every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth." 

Here  is  a  school  filled  with  experimental  plants, 
singing  birds,  aquaria  with  their  varied  life,  vivaria 
with  imprisoned  pests,  school  gardens  for  experiments 
with  all  kinds  of  growing  things;  but,  best  of  all,  a 
school  thoroughly  organized  for  the  protection  of  birds, 
frogs,  toads,  and  other  useful  animals;  for  the  de- 
struction of  pests ;  for  zealous  attempts  to  "  make  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  grew  before  "  and  to 
encourage  all  useful  life  to  "  be  fruitful  and  multiply  " ; 
and  for  carrying  into  the  homes  plant  culture,  build- 
ing of  bird  houses,  and  a  love  for  Nature  that  are  abso- 
lutely transforming  in  their  suggestions  to  older  per- 
sons, who  under  the  influence  of  the  school  are  witnesses 
to  the  old,  old  regeneration,  "  And  a  little  child  shall 
lead  them."  But  in  this  school  there  is  not  a  stuffed 
animal  or  dead  form  of  any  kind.  Everything  is  life 
in  all  its  beauty,  activity,  usefulness,  and  charm.  Even 
the  little  children  are  taught  the  delights  of  feeding  the 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  193 

birds,  and  ways  to  make  the  wild  birds  come  and  eat 
out  of  the  hand. 

Each  child  is  given  seeds  for  experiments  at  his 
home,  to  see  who  can  raise  the  best  fruit  trees,  vegeta- 
bles, and  flowers.  Almost  every  day  there  is  oppor- 
tunity for  each  one  to  tell  the  results  of  his  work;  and 
the  whole  story  of  the  preparation  of  the  ground,  the 
planting  of  the  seed,  the  degrees  of  sun  and  moisture, 
the  appearance  of  the  first  shoot  and  its  daily  growth  by 
inches,  number  of  leaves,  branches,  and  buds,  and  all  the 
joyful  successes  and  tearful  pathetic  tragedies,  come  out 
from  the  pure  -interest  of  the  little  original  horticul- 
turist and  for  the  best  guidance  of  others.  No  farmers' 
institute  could  listen  to  a  more  profitable  discussion, 
full  of  cautions  and  suggestions,  than  at  this  school 
gathering  where  tradition  and  custom  do  not  dwarf,  at 
the  very  beginning,  the  best  culture  of  plants.  Then, 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  comes  the  exhibition  day ;  and, 
as  the  parents  and  school  friends  gather  in,  each  child 
brings  from  his  home,  for  the  awarding  of  premiums, 
the  best  products  of  his  year's  work.  What  an  inspira- 
tion is  this !  What  a  suggestion  for  Nature  study  and 
for  all  the  work  of  the  school !  This  is  education. 

I  was  very  glad  to  find  that  all  this  plant  study 
is  not  confined  to  flowers,  but  that  attention  is  given 
also  to  vegetables,  fruit  trees,  and  even  the  forest  trees. 
Think  of  the  inspiration  to  a  child  in  actually  growing 
a  chestnut-tree  or  an  oak.  Peach-trees  there  were  by 
the  hundreds,  some  three  years  old. 

Then,  without  are  the  school  gardens.  To  grade 
four  is  assigned  a  long  garden  which,  it  is  designed, 
shall  contain  every  useful  plant  growing  in  Worcester 


194  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

County.  Every  plant  has  its  little  name  tablet,  which 
the  children  study  as  they  work  in  culture  of  the  plants, 
and  which  is  an  endlessly  enjoyable  study  even  in  recess 
time.  Grade  eight  has  the  care  of  the  lawn;  grades 
five,  six,  and  seven,  their  group  beds  devoted  to  the  ex- 
perimental culture  of  useful  vegetables ;  and  I  am  sure 
there  is  something  for  the  little  ones.  The  individual 
beds  are  at  the  home. 

One  little  girl,  ten  years  old,  says,  concerning  her 
bachelor's-buttons:  "  My  seeds  were  given  me  in  March, 
and  when  I  got  home  I  went  to  the  woods  for  some  dirt. 
I  came  home  and  sifted  my  dirt.  Afte?  I  had  sifted  it, 
I  planted  my  seeds.  I  patted  the  dirt  with  my  hand 
and  watered  the  seeds.  I  put  it  in  the  sun.  In  about 
two  days  my  plant  was  up.  In  three  days  after  it  was 
six  inches  high.  But  now  it  is  twenty  inches  high.  It 
has  nine  buds  on  it.  One  bud  is  nearly  out.  I  can  see 
six  more  buds  coming.  I  water  my  plants  every  day." 
Concerning  the  school  garden  she  says :  "  I  raked  many 
stones  out  of  our  garden  and  brought  rich  black  loam 
from  the  woods  to  put  on  it.  We  planted  lady's  slip- 
pers, violets,  white  violets,  ferns,  wild  oats,  Solomon's 
seals,  pussy  willows,  celandines,  lilies-of-the-valley,  sun- 
flowers, mustards,  buttercups,  columbines,  jack-in-the- 
pulpit,  bird's-foot,  false  Solomon's  seal,  cowslip,  wild 
geraniums,  dog's-tooth,  money  plants,  mallow,  cat- 
briers,  swamp  pinks,  and  sweetbriers." 

Another  child  writes :  "  We  all  got  our  peach  seeds 
of  Dr.  Hodge.  I  planted  mine  in  the  same  way  I  did 
my  bachelor's-buttons.  They  came  up  very  fast  indeed. 
Now  my  tree  is  an  inch  high,  and  I  am  very  happy.  I 
hope  it  will  bear  a  lot  of  fruit  when  it  grows  larger." 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  195 

Then  in  the  bird  study;  following  the  feeding  and 
care  of  the  birds,  indicated  for  the  primary  children, 
the  work  continued  in  its  development  until  in  grades 
called  five,  six,  seven,  and  eight  the  children  were  or- 
ganized for  the  annual  bird  census  and  its  related  work. 
The  district  tributary  to  this  school  was  divided  into 
four  census  districts;  and  the  children  of  each  of  these 
grades  respectively  were  organized  into  a  working  force 
of  census  takers,  each  grade  being  assigned  a  quarter 
of  the  district.  The  location  of  every  bird's  nest  was 
carefully  indicated  by  a  red  star  on  the  census  map, 
which  wTas  hung  on  the  wall  of  the  school  room.  Bird 
houses,  food,  drink,  and  nest-building  material  were  put 
out  to  encourage  the  immigration  of  new  settlers,  and 
the  warlike,  home-destroying  English  sparrows  were 
killed  off  by  systematic  poisoning. 

Then  there  are  the  bird  clubs,  called  "Ten-to-one 
clubs,"  *  organized  "  to  use  every  means  possible  to  in- 
crease the  numbers  of  our  native  wild  birds  by  providing 
them,  when  necessary,  with  food,  water,  shelter,  and 
nesting  places,  by  treating  them  with  uniform  kindness, 
and  especially  by  protecting,  in  every  way  possible,  their 
nests,  eggs,  and  young."  Hundreds  of  bird  houses  are 
mounted  on  trees,  poles,  and  houses;  food  plants  are 
cultivated;  drinking  and  bathing  basins  are  put  out  on 
posts ;  nest  material  is  put  conveniently  near ;  and  every 
child  vies  with  the  others  in  seeing  how  many  birds  he 
can  coax  to  feed  and  bathe  under  his  window  or  to  nest 
in  his  houses.  Woe  also  to  the  offender  who  violates 
the  sacredness  of  a  bird's  home.  One  boy,  a  newcomer 

*  Hodge's  Nature  Study  Leaflet.    Our  Common  Birds. 


196  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

in  the  school,  was  reported,  tried,  and  convicted  of  hav- 
ing robbed  a  robin's  nest,  and,  not  only  that,  but  of 
having  boiled  and  eaten  the  eggs.  A  committee  of  five 
was.  appointed  to  wait  on  him,  which- they  did  with  such 
effective  remonstrance  as  to  bring  the  boy's  parents 
forthwith  to  the  school.  It  was  reported  that  in  the 
year  1899  there  were  in  the  city  of  Worcester  five  thou- 
sand school  children  effectively  organized  in  bird  clubs. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  Worcester  has  been  visited  by  an 
incoming  of  birds  that  is  a  matter  of  common  remark. 
The  bird  census  at  the  Upsala  school  indicated  an  in- 
crease of  thirty  per  cent  in  the  bird  nests  in  a  single 
year. 

The  study  of  toads  and  frogs  has  also  opened  up  a 
great  field  in  the  schools  of  Worcester.  The  revelation 
to  Celia  Thaxter  *  that  a  common  toad  has  a  great  mis- 
sion to  perform  in  our  horticulture ;  the  statement  made 
by  Kirtland  that  a  single  toad  may  be  worth  $19.88 
each  season  for  the  cutworms  alone  destroyed;  the  dis- 
covery that  our  water  is  greatly  purified  and  much  larva 
and  insect  life  are  destroyed  by  the  tadpole  and  the 
frog;  that  our  rose-bushes  may  be  kept  free  from  de- 
stroying-lice by  the  ladybugs;  that  our  robins  in  the 
cherry-trees  are  probably  after  only  the  wormy  fruit; 
that  a  young  cedar  bird  will  take  a  hundred  flies  at  a 
single  meal;  that  the  hornets  around  the  picnic  table 
are  really  only  after  the  flies;  that  the  larva  of  elm 
beetles,  caterpillars,  and  other  destructive  pests  will  be 
abundantly  taken  care  of,  if  we  will  only  permit  the 
birds  to  help  us ;  and  that  even  the  mosquito  plague  may 

*  Celia  Thaxter's  Island  Garden. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  197 

be  forestalled  by  a  little  kerosene  on  the  waters  of 
our  ponds  and  insect-hatching  places — what  an  inter- 
esting and  profitable  field  for  the  education  of  chil- 
dren !  It  is  no  wonder  the  life  of  the  common  toad 
or  frog  is  sacred  in  Worcester,  and  that  children  have 
been  known  to  carry  these  pets  a  mile  or  more  in  order 
to  have  their  help  around  the  home. 

But  what  is  this — a  beehive  in  the  school?  Yes,  a 
hive  just  inside  the  window,  with  a  little  gauze-covered 
avenue  leading  in  from  outside.  The  raising  of  the 
padded  sides  discovers,  through  the  glass  sides,  all  the 
bees  at  work  and  all  the  processes  of  their  community 
life.  Here  is  the  queen  bee  with  her  strong  encircling 
body-guard  repelling  every  approach ;  here  are  the  work- 
ers, busy  in  storing  and  sealing  up  the  precious  caches 
of  honey ;  here  are  the  executors  of  law  and  order,  driv- 
ing out  the  drones  and  casting  them  into  exile  and  star- 
vation— a  fit  lesson  for  our  own  dealing  with  the  tramp 
problem ;  and  here,  at  the  very  entrance,  stand  two  door- 
keepers, admitting  no  bee  until  he  stops  and,  as  the 
children  say,  gives  the  password — what  a  study  for  the 
school! 

It  was  also  pleasing  to  see  that  the  pupils  in  this 
school  were  taught  how  to  make  their  own  aquaria. 
Given,  a  child,  a  few  pieces  of  glass  possibly  discarded 
by  the  photographer,  some  quartered  tin,  a  soldering 
iron,  some  aquarium  cement,  and  a  little  direction,  it 
does  not  take  long  before  every  child  will  have  his  own 
aquarium  and  its  varied  life  of  fish  and  plants  for 
his  endless  study  and  amusement. 

Then,  in  Nature  study,  there  is  the  illimitable  va- 
riety of  exercises  suggested  by  the  education  of  the 


198  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

farm,  and  here  given  opportunity  for  contribution  by 
the  fact  that  the  school  is  on  a  farm.  President  Hall's 
Boy  Life  on  a  Massachusetts  Country  Farm  a  Quar- 
ter of  a  Century  Ago,*  with  all  its  seventy  or  more 
different  grades  and  occupations — what  a  suggestion! 
The  McDonogh  School  Farm  f  near  Baltimore,  the 
George  Junior  Eepublic  J  in  New  York  State,  the  Ab- 
botsholme*  in  England,  and  Demolin's  L'Ecole  des 
Roches  1 1  near  Paris,  are  all  living  examples  of  this  great 
natural  field,  which  should  be  put  under  tribute  to  re- 
turn the  city  children  to  their  Eden  Lost. 

But  what  of  all  this  Nature  work  and  its  value  ? 

First,  it  has  been  the  foundation  of  all  healthful 
work  in  the  development  of  man. 

Second,  it  is  perfectly  in  accord  with  Nature,  so 
fruitful  in  educative  results  and  so  illimitable  in  its 
available  material,  that  the  amazing  wonder  is,  why 
have  the  schools  got  so  far  away  in  their  delving  into 
graveyards  and  dead  forms? 

Third,  the  fundamental  keynote  of  human  inter- 
est relates  it  to  practical  values  affecting  the  highest 
comfort,  success,  and  happiness  of  man.  Dr.  Hodge 
says :  "  A  pair  of  living  birds'  eggs,  with  proper  care 
by  the  children  of  the  country,  could  produce  in  ten 
years  a  pair  of  birds  for  every  child  in  the  land.  .  .  . 
With  a  single  pine  seed,  properly  cared  for  by  man, 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  i. 

t  An  Educational  Experiment.    New  York  Regents'  Bulletin 
No.  32. 

J  Croswell's  George  Junior  Republic. 

*  The  Abbotsholme. 

||  Demolin's  Anglo-Saxon  Superiority. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  199 

we  may  cover  the  continent  in  an  incredibly  short 
time  with  a  forest  of  pines.  .  .  .  The  bee,  by  cross  fer- 
tilization, has  given  us  all  our  varieties  of  fruits  and 
flowers.  .  .  .  With  available  room  properly  planted  we 
might  easily  have  ten  wild  birds  to  one  that  we  now 
have  in  our  towns  and  even  many  of  our  cities.  .  .  . 
No  one  has  ever  yet  produced  the  best  and  most  beau- 
tiful rose,  or  peach,  or  bird,  or  man,  or  anything  else 
that  the  world  is  capable  of  yielding.  By  proper  care  we 
can  not  only  have  a  world  full  of  such  birds  as  we  have 
now,  but  of  birds  with  sweeter  song  and  more  and  more 
beautiful  plumage;  and  in  the  presence  of  these  infinite 
possibilities  for  good  or  for  ill,  we  must,  above  all 
things,  remember  that  human  action  tends  to  make  the 
world  a  garden  or  a  desert,  a  paradise  of  joy  and  beauty, 
or  a  vale  of  tears." 

Fourth,  there  is  high  educative  value  in  the  inspira- 
tion involved  in  the  discovery  to  the  child  that  he  also 
may  have  a  great  part  in  the  evolution  of  a  world  of 
beauty,  knowledge,  and  happiness.  This  is  the  "  knowl- 
edge that  is  worth  most."  "  With  the  flood  of  talk 
and  writing  we  have  had  about  enriching  the  course 
of  study  and  all  the  complaints  about  crowding  in  too 
many  subjects,  it  is  certainly  strange  that  we  have 
heard  so  little  about  the  proper  quality  of  knowledge 
and  the  means  to  its  attainment."  (Hodge.) 

Fifth,  the  transformation  in  the  world's  expecta- 
tion of  the  child  is  another  great  possibility  of  this  kind 
of  Nature  work.  Eemarks  the  same  scientist:  My 
own  experience  with  children  and  that  kind  of  Nature 
work  which  has  some  high  purpose  in  it,  which  really 
presents  to  their  minds  something  well  worth  doing,  has 
15 


£00  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

led  me  to  repudiate  as  a  libel  on  childhood  the  theory 
that  attributes  to  him  "  native  cruelty."  These  are  the 
hasty  conclusions  of  that  desiccated  breed  of  peda- 
gogues who  insist  on  setting  before  innocent  children 
"  asinine  feasts  of  sow-thistles  and  brambles,"  grinds  of 
minutiae  technicalities  and  hard  names,  "  abstractions 
of  logic  and  metaphysics/'  ragged  notions  and  babble- 
ments, while  they  expected  worthy  and  delightful 
knowledge.  My  experience  has  been  that  children  al- 
ways take  to  knowledge  really  "  worthy  and  delightful  " 
which  offers  full  scope  to  their  passion  for  activity,  like 
ducklings  to  water,  like  fledglings  to  the  air.  If  they 
do  not,  let  us  look  to  the  "  native  cruelty  "  of  the  school 
room,  rather  than  cover  our  own  stupidity  with  assump- 
tions of  "native  cruelty  of  childhood." 

This  plan  of  Nature  work  has  been  outlined  some- 
what fully,  and  yet  very  inadequately,  because  of  the 
great  gap  it  is  to  fill  in  the  school,  and  also  because  of 
its  suggestiveness  as  to  procedure  in  the  conduct  of 
other  subjects. 

Is  it  not  unfortunate  that  so  many  of  our  school 
buildings,  and  the  schools  themselves,  are  so  lacking  in 
great  natural  artistic  ideals  and  the  teachers  so  prone 
to  content  themselves  with  the  dry  unnatural  fields  of 
books,  when  great  opportunities  are  before  them? 

HIGH-SCHOOL  SCIENCE. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  noble  work  in  Nature 
study  will  also  largely  influence  the  science  work  of  the 
high  school;  but  it  is  desirable  that  students,  in  this 
period,  should  come  in  contact,  by  direct  investigation, 
also  with  the  elementary  phenomena,  forces,  and  laws  of 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  201 

the  physiographic,  physical,  and  chemical  world.  Prof. 
J.  T.  Draper's  work  in  the  high-school  laboratories  of 
Pueblo,  Colo.,  Oakland,  Cal.,  and  Holyoke,  Mass.,  is 
perhaps  the  most  suggestive  contribution  in  this  in- 
teresting field.  Laboratories  equipped  with  very  few 
pieces  of  large  apparatus,  but  with  much  for  the  pu- 
pil's own  individual  work;  little  required  to  be  done 
outside  the  laboratory  or  the  laboratory  hour,  but  with 
opportunity  for  work  in  the  laboratory  itself;  the 
holding  of  the  lecture  and  general  exercise  to  their 
proper  and  very  useful  places,  but  with  all  work  funda- 
mentally individual;  the  discarding  of  the  single  text, 
and  the  facing  of  the  pupil  up  against  the  greater  field, 
with  the  abundant  library  even  of  college  texts  for  his 
help;  the  progress  of  the  individual  at  a  pace  best  suited 
to  his  personal  needs,  with  little  reference  to  the  class ; 
the  intrinsic  worth  of  order  and  exactness  in  all  meth- 
ods of  scientific  approach;  and  the  reliance  on  sugges- 
tion rather  than  servile  performance  under  requirement 
— these  are  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  Pro- 
fessor Draper's  interesting  work.  The  work  of  the  pu- 
pils is  individual,  and  yet  there  are  present  a  strength, 
an  inspiration  and  a  dignity  in  work  always  evident, 
where  the  pupil  finds  himself  in  association  with  a 
capable,  original  worker  whom  he  loves  and  respects 
as  his  guide  and  friend.  Much  of  the  work  of  Pro- 
fessor Draper's  pupils  is  directed  by  well-prepared 
sheets  of  suggestions,  giving  for  each  subject  a  few 
basic  directions,  a  large  number  of  references,  but  un- 
limited opportunity  for  personal  discoveries.  As  far 
as  is  possible  under  college  requirements,  the  greater 
value  of  full  development  of  a  few  subjects  over  the 


202  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

lesser  advantages  accruing  from  many,  and  particu- 
larly the  pursuance  of  one  branch  of  study  for  several 
years,  is  emphasized.  Superior  to  everything  else  aimed 
at  is  the  crowning  delight  which  comes  from  personal 
discovery  and  accomplishment  and  the  infinite  worth  of 
knowledge  in  that  way  gained. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  description  of  this  kind 
of  work  than  that  contained  in  President  Hall's  Quali- 
tative Analysis  of  Knowledge :  * 

"  Some  fact  in  science  is  discovered  and  a  man 
casually  reads  about  it  or  is  told  about  it  by  a  friend. 
He  probably  gains  in  this  way  a  dim,  far-away  notion, 
and  soon  forgets  all  about  it.  Second,  his  friend  takes 
him  into  his  laboratory,  sets  up  the  apparatus  and  dem- 
onstrates the  discovery  before  his  eyes.  From  this  he 
gets  a  much  clearer  knowledge.  His  friend  next  places 
the  apparatus  at  his  disposal  and  lets  him  try  the  ex- 
periment himself,  and  his  knowledge  takes  on  a  still 
stronger  quality.  It  might  be  difficult  now  for  him  to 
forget  the  circumstances.  Suppose,  finally,  the  man 
works  out  the  problem  for  himself,  devises,  possibly 
makes,  his  own  apparatus,  works  days  and  nights  in 
meeting  difficulties  and  in  overcoming  obstacles,  until, 
at  last,  he  has  his  result  definite  and  clear,  until  he 
has  himself  added  a  new  fact  to  the  sum  of  human 
knowledge.  The  discovery,  the  knowledge,  has  now  be- 
come a  living  part  of  himself,  an  inspiration  and  a  sat- 
isfaction as  long  as  he  lives." 

With  this  illustrative  definition  of  knowledge  it  is 
really  unimportant  what  branch  of  science  or  of  the 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  April,  1900. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  203 

curriculum  is  the  study  in  hand ;  the  great  desideratum 
is  the  discovery,  the  inspiration.  This  is  another 
illustration  of  "  what  knowledge  is  of  most  worth." 
However,  it  is  really  desirable  that  the  student  in 
this  period  shall  be  placed  in  possession,  for  the  sake 
of  his  later  life  and  work,  of  the  fundamental  ele- 
ments of  the  alphabets  and  of  working  tools  that  be- 
long to  work  in  the  physical,  chemical,  and  physio- 
graphic worlds. 

CONSTRUCTION. 

The  admirable  field  which  has  been  so  well  opened 
up  by  the  kindergarten  should  still  be  occupied.  The 
exercises  in  modelling,  in  designing,  in  synthesis,  and 
in  building,  as  typed  in  paper-folding  and  cutting,  in 
clay,  wax,  and  sand  modelling,  in  mat  weaving,  and  in 
block  and  other  building,  are  exceedingly  valuable  in  the 
early  development  of  creative  faculty.  These  same  ex- 
ercises are  capable  of  development  into  much  higher 
forms  in  the  modelling  of  geometric  forms  and  of  geo- 
graphic, plant  and  fruit  reliefs,*  in  basket  weaving,  in 
paper  cuttings  representing  life,f  in  architectural  con- 
struction using  larger  blocks,  and  in  the  building  of 
houses,  etc.  Sloyd  early  comes  into  use,  but  its  char- 
acter may  well  be  transformed.  The  making  of  toys 
and  playthings  would  open  up  an  immense  field 
of  great  interest  and  utility.  The  top,  the  whirligig, 
the  windmill,  the  water  dam,  the  water-wheel,  the  doll's 

*  Felix  Adler's  School,  New  York;  and  Connecticut  State 
Normal  School,  New  Britain,  Conn. 

f  Leaflet  for  Primary  Cutting.  By  Miss  Harris,  Supervisor  of 
Primary  Work,  Newark,  N.  J. 


204:  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

dress,  furniture,  and  playhouse,  the  animal  pen,  and  the 
endless  other  things  which  boys  and  girls  like,  are  all 
things  of  great  educational  value.  Then,  a  little  far- 
ther on,  think  of  the  puzzles,  kites,  bird-houses,  aquaria, 
bats,  stilts,  sleds,  wagons,  sail-boats,  pieces  of  appa- 
ratus, rustic  bridges,  traps,  picture-frames,  desks,  shops, 
houses,  and  all  the  other  creations  which  spring  from 
children's  brains.  The  kite  also  has  great  possibili- 
ties. At  the  Jacob  Tome  Institute  there  is  a  whole 
room  full  of  kites  of  all  sizes,  designs,  and  pur- 
poses, suggested  largely  by  the  reading  of  the  little 
pamphlet  on  kites  sent  out  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. Here  were  boys  of  ages  eleven  to  fifteen,  under 
the  inspiring  direction  of  Professor  Aldrich,  with  a 
series  of  kites  up  in  the  air  with  more  than  a  mile  and 
a  half  of  string.  At  Andover,  Superintendent  Johnson 
bought  a  finely  rigged  sail-boat  and  offered  it  as  a 
reward  to  the  boy  who  would  make  the  best  sail- 
boat. There  was  not  a  boat  made  by  the  com- 
peting boys  that  did  not  surpass  the  model  pre- 
mium. In  the  Upsala  school  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  a 
call  from  the  teacher  brought  more  than  two  hun- 
dred children  of  ages  ten  to  fourteen,  each  carrying 
under  the  arm  a  bird-house  of  his  or  her  construc- 
tion, not  counting  the  hundreds  of  other  bird- 
houses  already  mounted  on  trees,  poles,  and  buildings 
in  the  neighbourhood.  Then  on  through  the  work  of 
the  high  school  are  endless  correlations  of  science  and 
construction,  in  the  making  of  levers,  incline  planes, 
air-pumps,  magnets,  batteries,  steam-engines,  induction 
coils,  phonographs,  telephones,  telegraph  apparatus, 
telescopes,  and  a  perfectly  bewildering  array  of  other 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  205 

things  of  delight  to  the  young  creator.  What  an  antici- 
pation and  introduction  to  the  study  of  technical 
science  this  would  be! 

Superintendent  Vansickle,  in  his  work  at  North 
Denver,  made  very  effective  use  of  the  printing  press. 
The  nicety  of  adjustments  in  the  composing  stick,  the 
endless  variety  in  the  combinations  of  type  and  in  pos- 
sible design,  and,  above  all,  the  printing  of  a  paper  and 
the  making  of  a  book,  make  printing  a  constructive 
exercise  of  exceedingly  great  value.  The  Boys'  Club  at 
Holyoke,  Mass.,  has  found  book-binding  another  most 
useful  means  of  training.  President  Hall,  in  his  article 
on  A  Country  Farm  a  Quarter  of  a  Century  Ago,  tells 
of  seventy  different  trades  and  occupations,  all  exem- 
plified on  the  farm  and  entering  into  the  education  of 
the  boy  at  that  time.  The  McDonogh  Farm  School,  al- 
ready referred  to,  near  Baltimore,  Md. ;  the  Abbots- 
holme  in  England;  the  farm  school  in  Wales  for  the 
training  of  the  sons  of  noblemen — all  illustrate  impor- 
tant adjuncts  to  our  school,  made  possible  under  our 
plan  of  centralization  on  a  general  school  farm. 

Then  what  an  infinite  range  of  possibilities  there  is 
in  higher  modelling.  Proportionately  as  the  school  has 
entered  this  higher  field,  at  Drexel,  Felix  Adler's,  the 
Teachers'  College,  the  New  Britain  Normal  School,  and 
other  places,  the  still  higher  adaptability  and  usefulness 
of  these  exercises  for  educational  purposes  have  been 
apparent.  The  school  has  yet  much  to  learn  from  an- 
cient Greece.  As  one  stands  in  the  Eookery  at  Cin- 
cinnati, or  some  other  great  pottery,  and  watches  the 
marvellous  transformations  of  the  potter's  clay  in  short 
time  and  in  graceful  forms  under  the  manipulations  of 


206  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  moulder's  fingers,  the  question  can  not  help  arising, 
Why  does  not  the  school  utilize  this  wonderful  exercise 
for  the  development  of  creative  faculty? 

Now,  this  work  in  the  kindergarten,  in  sloyd  and 
manual  training,  in  sewing  and  dressmaking,  and  in 
modelling  must  be  essentially  individual.  Every  exer- 
cise is  filled  with  the  utmost  activity,  the  liveliest  inter- 
est, and  the  most  unlimited  opportunity  for  each  to  arise 
to  his  best.  To  make  it  anything  else  than  individual 
is  to  take  the  life  out  of  all  creative  exercise.  This, 
true  in  industrial  education,  is  illustrative  also  of  the 
same  principle  in  regard  to  all  other  branches  of  school 
work.  To  arise  to  any  great  height,  the  soul  must  be 
free;  and  to  be  free  it  must  be  individual. 

DRAWING. 

The  drawing  exercise,  in  all  good  schools,  has  been 
rapidly  taking  on  an  individual  character.  The  method 
is  largely  that  of  the  artist's  studio.  The  pupils  are 
either  in  groups,  drawing  the  same  things  but  from 
different  points  of  view,  or  at  work  on  entirely  different 
things.  The  teacher  passes  from  pupil  to  pupil,  with 
here  a  glance,  there  a  criticism  or  suggestion,  but  every- 
where direction.  It  is  not  necessary  that  all  details 
should  be  outlined  or  inspected.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that 
the  great  art  teacher,  Frye,  never  criticises  or  inspects 
the  work  of  his  students  at  all ;  sufficient  for  them  is  the 
artist  model.  In  our  school  the  pupils,  under  sugges- 
tion, are  led  to  do  much  themselves. 

In  contrast  with  this,  how  painfully  distressing  is 
the  school  where  the  drawing  is  all  imitation,  and  where 
little  appeals  to  the  child  to  inspire  him  to  originate 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  207 

or  to  relate  his  work  to  personal  pride !  The  child  must 
be  given  opportunity  to  create;  and  creation  is  always 
individual. 

The  individual  method  in  drawing,  practised  with 
such  satisfactory  results  by  many  teachers,  may  be  very 
suggestive  with  proper  modification  for  the  advantage 
of  work  in  other  departments. 

The  work  of  Henry  T.  Bailey,  State  Supervisor  of 
Drawing  in  Massachusetts  schools,  has  stood,  more  than 
for  any  other  one  thing,  for  the  conservation  of  indi- 
viduality in  drawing.  To  him  the  field  of  the  child's 
individuality  is  sacred,  to  be  trodden  on  by  no  peda- 
gogue's foot.  Hence  his  rescue  of  the  schools  from  the 
domination  of  books  and  exercises  which  dictate  and 
call  for  servile  imitation.  The  child  must  see  through 
his  own  eyes,  must  give  form  and  colour  as  to  him  the 
vision  is.  Imagination  also  plays  its  important  part, 
and  everywhere  there  is  freedom  and  creation. 

PENMANSHIP. 

Sooner  or  later  the  handwriting  must  tell  the  story 
of  individuality.  Therefore,  in  the  school,  it  should 
early  conserve  individuality.  Fortunately,  the  enor- 
mous transformations  in  the  systems  of  writing  since 
the  first  presentation,  by  President  Hall  in  1892,*  of 
vertical  script  in  this  country,  to  its  wide  and  almost 
universal  introduction  in  schools,  has  made  this  much 
easier  of  accomplishment.  There  are  now  no  hair 
lines.  The  child  may  write  large  or  small  as  he 
may  please,  only  the  letters  must  be  fairly  propor- 

*  Proceedings  of  Department  of  Superintendents,  1892. 


208  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

tioned.  Less  drill  is  now  required  to  make  a  good 
writer;  hence,  the  necessity  for  continued  drill  being 
removed,,  the  writing  earlier  takes  on  individuality. 

George  Sand  says :  "  The  paper  straight,  the  writ- 
ing straight,  the  boy  straight."  Vertical  writing  is 
more  quickly  learned,  easier  on  the  eye,  less  exacting  in 
position,  fairly  rapid,  and  more  easily  read. 

But  how  shall  we  escape  the  necessity  of  drilling 
children  in  concert? 

I  once  saw  Prof.  Chandler  H.  Peirce,  in  charge  of 
the  writing  of  five  thousand  children  in  the  schools  of 
Evansville,  Ind.,  conduct  school  after  school,  of  fifty 
or  more  pupils  each,  practically  by  the  individual  meth- 
od. "  The  work  was  conducted  on  a  basis  of  ten  lines 
for  every  effort,  the  teacher  giving  credit  if  done  right, 
and  assigning  ten  more  lines  if  done  wrong,  with  proper 
individual  criticism  offered."  Continues  Professor 
Peirce :  "  The  difference  between  the  poorest  writer  of 
the  B  class  and  the  best  writer  of  the  A  class 
is  the  work  of  two  or  three  years.  How  is  it  possi- 
ble to  give  this  wide  range  in  capabilities  any 
one  thing  which  will  satisfy  and  mark  progress?" 
I  saw  Mr.  Peirce,  as  he  sat  at  the  teacher's  desk, 
in  ten  minutes  receive  fifty  pupils,  mark  his  criti- 
cisms, indicate  his  suggestions  and  assignments,  and 
give  inspiration  to  these  little  workers,  who  found 
in  writing  a  most  delightful  exercise.  As  I  watched 
him,  it  seemed  to  me  this  was  the  only  natural 
thing  to  do.  The  day  of  "  one,  two,  three,"  and  of  "  left 
curve,  left  curve,  right  curve,  straight  line,  right  curve  " 
in  teaching  writing  is  rapidly  disappearing. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  209 


MATHEMATICS. 

The  methods  of  the  mathematical  laboratory  are 
very  simple  and  natural.  There  is  no  assignment  of 
lessons,  the  work  being  directed  largely  by  suggestions 
given  at  the  time  the  day's  work  is  being  done.  On  en- 
tering the  laboratory  (or  the  mathematical  hour,  if  all 
work  is  done  in  a  common  room)  the  pupil  then  takes 
up  the  work  of  the  day  and  begins  where  he  left  off 
yesterday.  The  teacher  usually  passes  from  desk  to 
desk,  encouraging,  criticising,  and  suggesting  at  the 
direct  point  of  personal  need.  Unembarrassed  by  the 
attention  of  others,  the  pupil  discovers  all  his  weakness 
to  his  teacher.  Why  should  he  not?  Every  point  of 
the  work  is  conducted  solely  for  his  benefit.  Instead  of 
preparing  only  a  part  of  the  work,  or  perhaps  using  help 
from  others,  sometimes  imitating  work  on  the  black- 
board, the  pupil  performs  all  the  exercises,  not  selected 
ones,  and  presents  entire  results  in  the  same  thorough 
and  satisfactory  manner.  The  work  to  him  takes  on 
reality;  there  is  not  the  slightest  incentive  to  dishon- 
esty; he  has  in  hand  an  important  piece  of  mathe- 
matical work ;  and  the  glow  of  conscious  strength  from 
personal  performance,  however  limited,  lifts  him  to  a 
higher  level  of  independence,  vigor,  and  discovery. 

Given  freedom  and  opportunity  for  active  choice, 
the  differences  in  working  ability  become  so  great  that 
it  becomes  impossible  to  hold  together  workers  so  vital- 
ized by  opportunity.*  Either  each  subject  must  be  pre- 

*  See    tables    showing    differentiation  of    working  abilities, 
Chapters  II  and  VII. 


210  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

sented  with  minimum  opportunities,  or  the  pupils 
must  be  given  opportunity  to  scatter  through  the 
entire  range  of  the  subject.  Their  performance  of 
work  is  individual ;  but  no  matter  how  widely  scattered 
the  workers  may  be  in  text  performance,  it  always 
happens  that  there  are  enough  pupils  approximately 
together  to  give  a  group  recitation  at  any  time  de- 
sired; only  the  group  of  to-day  can  not  be  the  group  of 
to-morrow.  In  like  manner,  there  is  always  oppor- 
tunity for  class  discussion  on  elements  of  common 
interest;  but  why  should  it  be  necessary  to  have  the 
steps  leading  to  such  a  general  exercise  all  identical  or 
simultaneous?  Usually  the  individual  work  in  mathe- 
matics follows,  in  the  main, a  book-text;  but  some  teach- 
ers, particularly  in  the  lower  grades,  prepare  card  series 
of  problems,  adapted  to  a  wider  range  of  choice.  With 
pupils  trained  to  more  responsible  work,  there  is  little 
keeping  of  records  excepting  by  the  pupil  himself.  The 
work  does  not  encourage  false  returns.  Sometimes  a 
query  box,  into  which  pupils  put  calls  for  the  class 
presentation  of  problems  of  special  interest  or  difficulty, 
is  advantageous.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  work  pos- 
sesses all  the  advantages  of  individual  opportunity, 
group  discussion  and  class  explanation. 

An  interesting  example  of  this  kind  of  exercises  was 
observed  in  Mrs.  A.  R.  Hornbrook's  *  classroom  at  Evans- 
ville,  Ind.  Here  comes  a  class  of  thirty,  say  in  mathe- 
matics, perhaps  arithmetic.  The  lesson  has  not  been 
assigned  the  day  before.  Each  pupil  is  trained  to  make 
his  own  advance  assignment  within  certain  general 
directions.  Half  of  the  class  are  at  their  desks  and  at 

*  See  Mrs.  Hornbrook's  Laboratory  Methods  in  Mathematics. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  211 

work  on  problems  to  be  presented  as  opportunity  arises, 
possibly  to-morrow.  The  other  half  are  at  the  black- 
board, each  one  putting  on  his  several  solutions  or 
demonstrations  for  inspection  or  criticism.  The 
teacher  pauses  here  and  there,  quizzing,  testing,  and 
suggesting.  Occasionally  she  calls  on  all  who  are  inter- 
ested in  Problem  29  to  give  attention  to  James's  demon- 
stration, and  immediately  a  little  group  gathers  round 
this  demonstration,  which  touches  their  individual 
interest.  Sometimes  a  capable  pupil  is  asked  to  explain 
to  a  single  classmate;  and  sometimes  one  is  appointed 
as  critic.  Often  the  statement  is  heard,  "  All  those  who 
are  ready  for  explanation  "  of  a  given  topic  "  will  please 
give  attention  to  the  class  direction  ";  but,  singular  to 
remark,  not  once  did  I  see  any  attempt  to  embarrass  a 
pupil  by  calling  on  him  to  recite  on  a  section  on  which 
he  was  unprepared.  Here  were  individual  advance- 
ment, group  interchange,  and  class  direction — a  trinity 
most  devoutly  to  be  wished.  Every  child  was  happy  in 
his  work,  each  pursuing  that  which  was  individually 
best  for  him;  all  were  loyal  to  the  trust  and  opportunity 
given  them,  enthusiastic  and  ready,  but  without  em- 
barrassment, to  expose  all  weakness;  while  the  teacher 
was  as  free  from  burden,  she  said,  as  she  would  have 
been  entertaining  friends  in  her  own  parlour. 

The  beauty  of  individual  work  is  that  no  two  teach- 
ers conduct  it  alike.  Sometimes  the  teacher  proceeds 
very  much  as  one  would  in  a  drawing  lesson,  passing 
from  pupil  to  pupil,  vitalizing  each  one  by  personal  in- 
spiration, suggestion,  and  kindly  criticism  while  sitting 
by  the  pupil's  side,  and  occasionally  illustrating  some 
common  principle  by  class  explanation. 


212  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Miss  Laura  R.  Andrews's  work  in  Pueblo,  Colo.,  was 
very  suggestive.  Here  the  pupils  worked  in  flexible 
groups,  changing  from  day  to  day.  The  performance  of 
work  was  entirely  individual.  Generally  the  teacher 
and  pupil  were  sitting  side  by  side,  with  help  just  at 
the  point  of  present  need.  Sometimes  a  group  of  those 
approximately  working  at  the  same  place  gathered 
around  a  table  for  mutual  help.  Sometimes  the  atten- 
tion of  all  was  directed  to  certain  basic  principles  of 
general  interest,  but  the  advancement  was  purely 
individual. 

LANGUAGE. 

The  language  exercise  must  be  related  to  the  child's 
interest.  Therefore,  what  a  fruitful  field  is  opened 
up  by  the  Nature  work  already  described !  What  a  child 
does  not  know  about  his  pet  plants  and  pet  animals, 
the  things  he  has  reared  and  fed,  is  scarcely  worth  know- 
ing; and  when  he  begins  to  tell  with  tongue  or  pen, 
how  the  story  glows  with  life  and  warmth !  This  gives 
soul  to  all  language  work  and  makes  the  telling  easy. 
Just  in  proportion  as  it  reaches  such  heights  it  is  indi- 
vidual; and  the  converse  is  just  as  true.  Language 
work  should  be  little  taught  as  a  thing  in  itself;  or 
it  will  blight  all  Nature  work  and  every  subject  it 
touches.  It  must  rather  be  the  outburst  of  the  super- 
abounding  joy  of  other  work.  When  the  child  is  full 
of  his  subject  the  language  work  can  not  help  being 
good.  This  is  witnessed  well  in  the  budget  of  Christmas 
stories,*  published  by  the  school  children  of  Holyoke, 

'. _ •• * 

*  Holyoke  School  Children's  Christmas  Annual,  1897. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  213 

Mass.  Here,  strange  to  say,  some  of  the  finest  stories 
came  from  the  poorest  and  most  illiterate  children,  par- 
ticularly those  living  in  the  tenement  houses.  Lan- 
guage work  to  these  children  became  real.  Their  vivid 
imaginations,  enkindled  by  suggestion  and  let  loose, 
teemed  with  creations  of  surprising  beauty.  They 
tasted  the  pure  joy  of  authorship,  and  in  their  delight- 
ful work  found  expression  in  language  surprising  to  all 
who  knew  them.  What  a  world  of  children's  interests 
are  available  for  other  revelations  in  the  same  line ! 
How  the  imagination  glows  when  given  opportunity ! 
And  particularly  is  this  the  case  with  the  child  before 
he  is  checked  by  the  tether  of  the  school.  Let  the 
teacher  beware  of  encroachment  on  the  sacred  domain 
of  individuality  by  the  formal  written  exercise;  and 
particularly  should  we  avoid  over-criticism,  which 
checks  creation  and  causes  the  language  exercise  to 
lose  its  soul  and  lustre. 


HEADING. 

This  poverty-stricken  primary  exercise  has  no  place 
in  our  play  school.  In  the  primary  school  it  has  been  a 
dead  exercise,  because  its  premature  introduction  gives 
little  play  for  activity.  The  child  of  eight  years  is  ready 
for  reading,  and  this  makes  its  mastery  short  and  easy. 
To  the  extent  that  reading,  "th(5"n"  61'  later,  becomes  a 
passive  exercise,  with  many  listlessly  waiting,  while  oth- 
ers are  away  off  in  dreamland  or  wishing  to  be  there,  it 
becomes  a  questionable  exercise.  For  this  reason,  ex- 
cepting for  certain  purposes,  the  full  class  exercise  is  to 
be  avoided.  With  departmental  organization  it  would 


214  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

be  a  good  thing  if  the  pupils,  as  individuals  or  in  small 
numbers,  could  pass  in  turn  to  an  adjoining  room  for 
drill  in  reading  at  the  hands  of  a  specialist,  with  exer- 
cises much  longer  than  the  brief  line  which  a  child 
usually  reads,  the  other  pupils,  in  the  meantime,  being 
occupied  with  other  work.  If  this  is  inconvenient,  then 
the  teacher  may  well  gather  the  children  around  her 
in  smaller  groups,  vitalizing  the  exercise  by  closer 
help  and  by  the  children's  more  fruitful  attention. 
This  group  method  is  utilized  with  great  profit  in 
the  schools  of  Stockton,  Cal.,  Jamestown,  N".  Y., 
Youngstown  and  Hamilton,  Ohio,  and  many  other 
places.  It  is  not  equal  to  the  departmental  plan  where 
pupils  may  retire  for  special  drill;  because  the  most 
difficult  thing  for  a  teacher  to  do  is  to  give  a  class 
in  reading  any  living  attention  and  at  the  same  time 
direct  the  occupation  work  of  the  remainder  of  the 
school.  However,  it  is  much  to  be  preferred  to  the 
general  exercise  which  keeps  a  whole  school  or  class 
passive  while  one  pupil  is  reciting.  The  individual 
method,  under  the  departmental  teacher,  is  best;  after 
this  in  value  comes  the  group,  to  be  succeeded  by 
another  group. 

But  there  are  times  when  the  whole  school  may 
profitably  have  a  general  exercise.  Sometimes  it  may 
well  be  in  select  reading  for  a  quick  comprehension  and 
interpretation  of  thought,  followed  by  "  books  down  " 
and  the  telling  of  what  has  been  gleaned.  Sometimes 
an  especially  fine  selection  should  be  studied  or  read 
in  concert,  but  not  too  often.  Then,  again,  an  exceed- 
ingly good  exercise  is  representative  reading,  where  a 
pupil-reader  entertains  the  whole  school  with  something 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  215 

entirely  new  and  interesting.  There  should  also  be 
much  silent  reading,  which,  in  almost  any  form,  is  al- 
ways individual. 

LITERATURE. 

The  place  to  teach  literature  is  in  a  library  where 
pupils  are  turned  loose  to  read  under  sympathetic  guid- 
ance and  capable  suggestion.  With  an  unlimited  ac- 
cessibility of  books  why  should  children  all  study  a 
given  topic  simultaneously?  Undoubtedly  a  critical 
lecture  or  general  suggestion  may  at  times  be  given; 
but,  in  the  main,  pupils  should  be  brought  face  to  face 
with  good  books,  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  "  Temple  of 
Peace,"  as  Gladstone  was  accustomed  to  call  his  library, 
and  then  be  encouraged  to  read.  A  carefully  prepared 
course  of  reading  should  be  mapped  out  with  consider- 
able range  for  individual  selection.  Each  pupil  might 
very  profitably  fill  out  a  blank  form,  giving  a  digest  of 
the  book  read,  its  author's  style,  the  plot,  most  effective 
passages,  most  worthy  quotations,  etc.  Children  love 
beautiful  things,  and  will  read  them  by  preference,  if 
suggestion  is  made  in  a  helpful  and  sympathetic  way. 
There  is  no  objection  to  the  concert  drill  often  used 
in  storing  the  memory  with  beautiful  gems  of  senti- 
ment. Indeed,  it  is  a  very  profitable  exercise ;  but  there 
should  be  a  careful  avoidance  of  all  the  dry  rot  in 
method  that  forgets  that  a  child  is  a  child  and  that  even 
an  adult  tires  of  trying  to  conform  personal  interest  to 
that  of  some  one  else. 

Concerning  the  applicability  of  the  principle  of  indi- 
vidualism to  the  study  of  literature  very  little  need  be 
said;  but  much,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  suggested.  With- 
16 


216  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

out  individual  opportunity  certainly  nothing  would  ever 
have  been  written,  and  the  suggestions  for  others  to 
write  must  come  largely  in  the  same  way.  The  func- 
tion of  the  school,  then,  is  to  furnish  an  abundance  of 
material;  suggested  courses  of  reading  of  wide  variety 
in  fields;  instructive  lectures  here  and  there  on  larger 
points  of  common  interest  or  general  usefulness;  indi- 
vidual help  in  knowledge  of  how  to  handle  keys,  such 
as  Poole's  Index,  and  in  acquaintance  with  the  by-paths 
of  literary  activity;  an  abundance  of  opportunity  for 
the  pupil  to  make  his  own  choice  and  of  time  to  read; 
and  liberal  encouragement  for  himself  to  enter  the 
original  field  of  literary  creation. 

I  would  also  again  particularly  add  the  desirability 
of  the  child's  making  a  digest  of  his  reading  as  he  pro- 
ceeds. The  habits  of  literary  men  in  authorship  might 
be  very  profitably  taught.  Very  few  effective  writers 
begin  to  write  a  book  trusting  to  a  gradual  develop- 
ment of  the  theme  as  the  work  goes  on.  The  most 
valuable  writers  are  those  who  make  notes  on  impor- 
tant points  as  they  read.  Each  note  is  a  finished  pro- 
duction in  itself,  embodying  either  a  quotation,  a  valu- 
able reference,  or  the  development  of  some  thought  sug- 
gested by  the  reading.  These  completed  fragments  are 
filed  in  a  scrap  index.  Then,  when  the  time  comes  for 
the  presentation  of  a  book,  the  writer  spreads  out  his 
associated  notes  on  the  floor,, takes  an  inventory  of 
what  he  has,  arranges  his  sundry  fragments  in  proper 
order,  fills  in  the  connections,  and  the  result  is  a  capable 
mosaic  representing  the  best  thoughts  of  the  man's  best 
hours.  Why  is  it  not  a  good  thing  for  the  pupil  early 
to  learn  thus  to  give  system  and  value  to  his  read- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  217 

ings?  The  digest  of  the  completed  book  is  a  very  ex- 
cellent thing  for  the  younger  child.  No  more  delight- 
ful exercise  in  literary  training  can  be  found  than 
that  in  which  the  child  stands  before  his  interested 
classmates  and  thus  produces  orally  the  digest  of  an 
entire  book. 

It  is  particularly  important  that  pupils  should  be 
trained  how  to  use  indexes  and  keys  in  the  library.  For 
this  reason  literature  is  best  taught  in  a  library.  The 
customary  rule  to  "  avoid  talking "  is  a  pretty  good 
thing  for  the  teacher  to  read. 

Capable  direction,  accessibility  of  books,  and  time  to 
read  are  essential  functions.  The  excellent  work  of 
John  Cotton  Dana,*  now  of  the  Springfield  (Mass.) 
Library,  is  very  suggestive.  The  literature  work  in  the 
Dayton  High  School  is  also  particularly  good. 

HISTORY. 

Why  should  science  be  the  only  subject  with  capable 
equipment  for  its  study?  Our  history  is  to  be  taught 
in  its  laboratory,  equipped  with  reading  and  writing 
tables,  historical  library,  maps,  charts,  globes,  busts, 
pictures,  relics,  and  porte-lumiere.  "  The  history  of 
the  world  is  the  biography  of  great  men"  (Carlyle). 
Biography,  then,  should  be  the  soul  of  history.  When- 
ever a  knowledge  of  the  times  is  especially  desirable, 
it  should  be  gathered  largely  from  collateral  reading 
and  the  pictures  of  the  novelists. 

Miss  Mary  E.  Wilder,  of  the  Gloucester   (Mass.) 

*  Dana's  Library  Primer.    See  also  address  before  N.  E.  A., 
1898. 


218  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

High  School,  has  published  a  little  working  manual,  of 
seventy-four  pages,  on  Laboratory  Methods  in  English 
History  which  will  be  of  great  value  to  progressive 
teachers.  In  this  she  names  113  volumes  that  might  con- 
stitute the  working  equipment  of  an  historical  labora- 
tory, added  to  which  are  suggested  32  other  volumes  for 
additional  help.  It  is  plain  to  see  that  these  lists  might 
be  indefinitely  enlarged;  but  to  show  the  feasibility  of 
the  plan  with  even  a  small  equipment,  Miss  Wilder 
names  ten  volumes  as  a  minimum  working  equipment. 
For  purpose  of  illustration  let  us  take,  say,  as  sub- 
ject, 

THE  ENGLISH  CONQUEST,  449  A.  D.-1066  A.  D. 

The  student  is  advised  to  read  continuously  at  least 
one  of  the  following: 

Montgomery,  31-57;  or  Anderson,  28-69;  or  Towle, 
11-57.  For  extended  information,  say,  in  the  study  of 

EDWARD  THE  CONFESSOR, 
the  references  are: 
Allen,  170. 
Armitage,  88. 
Bright,  i,  21-24. 
Church,  320-323. 
Dickens,  43-49. 
Freeman,  Short  History  of  the  Norman  Conquest, 

24-25. 

Freeman,  i,  354;  ii,  3-11,  14,  18,  337-343. 
Freeman,  Old  English  History,  252,  253,  258,  262, 

269,  270,  293,  296. 
Gardiner,  i,  86-89. 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  219 

Green,  English  People,  i,  103-106. 

Green,  Short  History,  68-70. 

Green,  Conquest,  467,  468,  472,  473. 

Hume,  61-66. 

Jewett,  186-194. 

Knight,  i,  162,  167,  176. 

Lappenburg,  ii,  285,  291,  296,  300,  332. 

Lingard,  i,  277-285,  303-306. 

Thierry,  i,  124,  127. 

Yonge,  i,  26-29. 

Miss  Wilder  says:  "Note-books  are  necessary,  and 
two  are  not  too  many — one  for  notes  taken  in  class  from 
the  teacher  or  fellow  pupils;  the  other  for  the  student's 
own  personal  researches.  .  .  .  The  pupil  should  be 
encouraged  to  consult  two  or  more  authorities  on  all 
topics,  and  to  read  continuously  some  history  other 
than  those  used  for  reference;  likewise  to  own  at 
least  one,  the  best  he  can  afford.  .  .  .  Atlases  should 
be  in  constant  use,  and  progressive  maps  should  be 
prepared  by  the  pupil,  subject  to  examination  by  the 
teacher  from  time  to  time.  .  .  .  Essays  written  on 
subjects  connected  with  the  study  are  helpful.  This 
work  may  be  varied  by  writing  a  review  of  some  his- 
torical novel  which  has  been  read  as  a  part  of  the  pre- 
scribed course.  .  .  .  Historical  novels,  scrap-books  for 
cuttings  and  pictures,  the  learning  of  spirited  poems 
and  ballads — all  help  to  rouse  the  interest  and  enthu- 
siasm." It  is  plain  to  see  that  this  table  of  references  is 
serviceable  for  little  or  much  according  to  the  student's 
interest,  time,  and  purpose. 

For  wider  illustration  of  the  subject,  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  times,  and  the  clothing  of  characters 


220  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

with  reality,  a  generous  list  of  collateral  reading  is  sug- 
gested; for  instance,  in  illustration  of  the 

PLANTAGENETS  : 

Doyle's  White  Company;  Edgar's  Great  Men  and 
Great  Deeds  (Crusades);  Froissart's  Chronicles;  Gil- 
lat's  John  Standish;  Henty's  Brothers  in  Arms,  For 
the  Temple,  In  Freedom's  Cause,  and  St.  George  of 
England;  James's  Forest  Days;  Porter's  Scottish 
Chiefs;  Scott's  Count  Eobert  of  Paris  (1090);  Be- 
trothed (1187);  Talisman  (1193);  Ivanhoe  (1194); 
Castle  Dangerous  (1306) ;  Yonge's  Prince  and  Page, 
The  Constable's  Tower;  Shakespeare's  King  John, 
Edward  III,  Eichard  II;  Gray's  The  Band  (1282); 
Scott's  Lord  of  the  Isles  (1307) ;  Halidon  Hill  (1333)  ; 
Southey's  Wat  Tyler,  Chevy  Chase. 

It  is  evident  that  even  the  young  student  is  here 
initiated  into  the  interesting  field  of  historical  research 
and  early  feels  the  glow  which  belongs  to  the  true  his- 
torian. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

In  the  Teachers'  College  I  one  day  saw  a  very  beau- 
tiful lesson  in  geography.  The  topic  was  Scotland ;  the 
method  that  of  the  stoty-teller.  All  the  pupils  had 
been  encouraged  to  read  in  as  wide  as  possible  a  man- 
ner; each  vied  with  the  others  in  the  endeavour  to  have 
something  of  varied  and  particular  interest  to  say.  One 
pupil  told  of  the  geological  formation  and  geographic 
position;  another  of  its  flora,  the  heath  and  heather. 
A  third  pupil,  who  had  been  to  Scotland,  ran  an  excur- 
sion to  the  mountains  and  pictured  the  beauty  of  the 
lochs  and  streams.  Another  told  of  Scotland's  rela- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  221 

tion  to  the  British  Empire ;  and  then  came  a  symposium 
of  historic  incidents  and  of  the  minstrelsy  of  the  bor- 
der. One  pupil  recited  a  goodly  section  from  the  Lady 
of  the  Lake,  telling  of  Koderick  and  Ellen  and  Doug- 
las and  Malcolm  Graeme.  The  stories  of  Bruce  and 
Mary  and  Tarn  o'  Shanter  were  not  overlooked.  The 
Cottar's  Saturday  Night  also  found  recognition.  Abun- 
dant pictures  were  at  hand  to  illustrate  many  scenes  in 
Scottish  life;  and  the  teacher  had  difficulty  in  gaining 
opportunity  to  make  a  few  remarks  herself.  If  some  one 
had  only  been  present  to  sing  Bonnie  Sweet  Bessie  and 
another  to  play  the  bag-pipe,  the  translation  to  Scotland 
would  have  been  almost  complete. 

Why  can  not  such  an  exercise  as  this  be  more  uti- 
lized in  the  schools  ?  What  in  the  ordinary  formal  grind 
of  geography  can  compare  with  this  in  vivid  interest? 
Do  we  not  deaden  geographic  interest  by  our  unrelated 
facts,  our  conformity  to  routine,  and  our  uniformitiza- 
tion?  These  pupils  carried  from  this  lesson  a  vivid 
picture  of  Scotland  and  a  spontaneous  desire  to  have 
something  valuable  for  to-morrow's  symposium.  The 
fact  that  the  procedure  utilized  individual  gleanings 
in  perhaps  widely  different  fields  detracted  nothing 
from  the  value  of  the  class  exercise.  Here,  in  a 
single  lesson,  geology,  botany,  history,  economics,  po- 
etry, literature,  travel,  and  language  painting,  all 
united  to  give  unity  and  life  to  the  geography  lesson. 
If  we  could  make  our  geography  real  by  relating  it  to 
life  and  to  personal  interest,  we  should  find  our  long 
procedure  in  the  development  of  geographic  concept 
entirely  unnecessary.  Would  utilization  of  the  methods 
of  the  Travellers'  Clubs  smack  too  little  of  the  school? 


222  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

FRENCH  AND  GERMAN. 

Our  course  of  study  places  French  in  the  elementary 
or  primary  school;  German,  with  French  continued,  in 
the  intermediate  school;  but  with  instruction  by  the 
mother-tongue  method.  There  is  no  objection  to  some 
anticipation  even  in  the  play  school;  indeed,  it  is  to 
be  encouraged.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  all  language 
by  the  mother-tongue  method,  in  the  very  nature  of 
things,  even  in  English,  must  be  largely  individual. 

Technical  study  and  the  use  of  books  must  charac- 
terize more  and  more  the  work  in  the  high  school. 
But  here,  with  all  the  conversations  and  discoveries  so 
much  to  be  desired,  there  is  no  need  of  individual  in- 
terest being  blighted  by  uniformity.  The  fact  is,  there 
is  no  place  where  a  person  will  learn  a  modern  language 
so  quickly  as  in  the  midst  of  surroundings  where  there 
is  much  to  make  thought  vigorous,  to  keep  interest 
lively,  and  to  furnish  higher  ideals.  Prof.  Maro  S. 
Brooks,  at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  and  Miss  Alice  G.  Hurford, 
of  Pueblo,  Colo.,  in  their  high-school  work,  both  reached 
rich  results  by  a  happy  combination  of  individual  study, 
group  conversations,  and  class  discussions.  Their 
methods  are  capable  of  wide  adaptability  to  the  personnel 
of  schools. 

The  method  of  Prof.  Edmond  B.  de  Beaumont,  of 
Lausanne,  Switzerland,  and  president  of  the  Associa- 
tion Internationale  de  Philologie  Pratique,  is  exceed- 
ingly interesting  and  illustrative.  Here  is  a  man  work- 
ing in  eighty-two  languages,  many  of  which  he  speaks 
fluently.  Professor  Beaumont  believes  that  language 
is  a  great  ocean,  into  which  flows  an  infinite  diversity 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  223 

of  streams.  The  language  of  each  soul  must  be  indi- 
vidual— must  be  its  own.  The  address  is  so  per- 
sonal, the  words  of  the  foreign  and  one's  native 
tongues  are  intermingled  so  adroitly,  the  meaning  of 
each  new  word  is  so  transparent,  and  tongue  and  pen 
work  so  constantly  and  perfectly  together,  that  the 
learner  comes  out  from  the  lesson  all  afire  with  love 
for  his  new  work,  respect  for  the  teacher,  and  with  ear 
tingling  and  tongue  ready  to  express  words  and  phrases 
now  a  part  of  himself.  Master  and  pupil  talk  in  the 
new  language  from  the  very  first  moment.  A  hundred 
new  words  are  given  the  first  day,  and  almost  as  many 
every  day.  These  are  recorded,  as  they  occur,  in  a 
vocabulary  book,  and  phrases  and  sentences  in  a  phrase- 
ology book ;  both  always  in  pencil.  Almost  immediately 
the  learner  begins  in  ink  a  book  of  his  own  natural 
style.  He  must  write  spontaneously  and  continuously, 
on  any  subject  or  without  subject,  words,  phrases,  sen- 
tences— anything;  but  he  must  write,  write,  write.  Er- 
rors are  expected,  for  if  one  waited  until  he  could  write 
faultlessly,  he  would  never  write  at  all.  If  the  right 
word  in  French  or  German  does  not  come  at  once,  a 
word  from  English,  or  any  language,  should  be  filled 
in — anything  to  keep  writing.  One  page  of  this  natu- 
ral style  should  be  written  each  day.  This,  then,  at 
convenient  time,  is  to  be  submitted  to  the  teacher  or 
some  competent  person,  who  will  underscore  in  red  each 
complete  sentence  of  good  language ;  the  phrase,  word, 
and  letter  errors  in  blue;  while  the  sentences  without 
errors,  but  yet  not  good  phrase,  are  not  marked  at  all. 
At  some  later  time,  not  soon,  the  learner  should  try 
again  the  thought  expressed  in  the  sentences  contain- 


224  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ing  errors.  The  words  and  phrases  underscored  in  red 
are  the  pupil's  own  and  these  he  must  immediately  be- 
gin to  teach  to  some  one — companion,  child,  servant, 
or  stranger. 

At  the  same  time  the  learner  is  encouraged  to  talk 
alone,  to  talk  to  himself,  and  continue  to  talk,  sense  or 
nonsense,  but  to  talk  in  the  closed  room,  in  the  street, 
on  the  ramble,  or  anywhere  alone.  Every  available 
opportunity  for  conversation  must  be  utilized ;  but  noth- 
ing can  take  the  place  of  writing  one's  own  natural  style 
and  of  talking  alone.  Then,  each  day  five  red  words  are 
to  be  entered  in  a  word  index — only  five ;  never  more — 
and  with  the  utmost  care,  for  each  word  is  a  pearl  to 
be  fondled,  caressed,  strung,  and  treasured.  Five  words 
each  day  will  make  1,800  in  a  year.  Each  day  also  the 
recognised  words  of  a  single  page  in  the  dictionary  are 
to  be  marked.  These  are  blue  words.  The  number  of 
words  so  marked  is  indicated,  with  date,  at  the  bottom  of 
the  page.  The  learner  now  meets  three  kinds  of  words — 
red  words,  or  those  made  his  own;  blue  words,  recog- 
nised, but  not  perfectly  at  command  in  natural  style; 
and  C  words,  belonging  to  the  great  ocean  to  be  studied ; 
and  gradually  the  C  words  become  B  words  and  the  B 
words  A  words.  Now  and  then,  at  first  frequently, 
later  on  perhaps  once  a  year,  the  learner  takes  an  in- 
ventory of  his  red  words  as  found  in  his  word  index 
and  of  his  blue  words,  already  marked  in  his  dictionary ; 
for  these  words  are  his  precious  wealth,  his  money  to  be 
counted  and  treasured  as  a  miser  would  his  gold.  Each 
week  a  new  verb  is  to  be  written  out  in  full;  and,  I 
think  I  hear  this  successful  linguist  say,  each  year  a 
new  language  should  be  undertaken.  The  grammar  is 


ILLUSTRATIVE-  METHODS.  225 

used  largely  as  a  reference  book,  the  principal  thing 
being  the  learner's  own  natural  style.  As  the  study  ad- 
vances, gem  phrases  from  standard  authors  are  to  be 
gleaned  and  entered  in  a  book;  and  thus  the  work  glows 
and  grows,  so  that  the  learner,  talking  from  the  very 
start,  encouraged  to  go  on  regardless  of  errors,  but 
to  talk  and  write,  write  and  talk,  soon  gains  a  mas- 
tery of  words  that  is  truly  surprising.  This  is,  in  sub- 
stance, the  method  used  in  what  Professor  Beaumont 
facetiously  calls  his  "  Salvation  Army  for  Modern  Lan- 
guages." *  The  writer,  in  study  of  the  method,  spent 
two  profitable  months  with  this  master  of  languages, 
and  therefore  knows  something  of  the  method's  value. 
Its  great  characteristics  are  naturalness,  system,  sound 
pedagogy,  enthusiasm,  and  results.  With  the  method 
in  hand,  the  learner,  alone  or  in  school,  may  fearlessly 
enter  on  the  acquisition  of  any  language. 

LATIN  AND  GREEK. 

One  of  the  pioneer  individualists  in  public-school 
work  was  Miss  Ida  Brock  Haslup,  for  six  years  prin- 
cipal of  the  central  High  School  of  Pueblo,  Colo.,  in 
which  she  also  taught  much  of  the  Latin  and  Greek. 
More  than  one  hundred  pupils  in  their  Latin  and  Greek 
were  under  her  teaching  each  day.  At  times  of  conveni- 
ence to  their  other  departments  of  work,  the  pupils  for 
their  Latin  work  came  to  this  room.  Each  one  thus 
spent  daily  one  hour  by  assignment,  but  the  hour  was 
used  also  for  other  studies,  chosen  by  the  pupils  and 
apportioned  the  same  amount  of  time.  This  appropri- 
ated four  out  of  the  five  hours  of  the  session,  one  of 

*  Beaumont's  New  Method  of  Vocabularization. 


226  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  four  hours  being  spent  in  the  gymnasium  or  indus- 
trial shops.  This  left  one  free  hour,  which,  in  the  cases 
of  beginning  pupils,  was  assigned;  but  in  all  other  cases 
was  left  free  for  application,  as  the  pupil  saw  best,  at  the 
place  of  interest  or  special  need.  The  pupils  thus  were 
allowed  much  freedom  in  moving  from  room  to  room. 
There  was  no  class  study  or  recitation  to  be  interrupted. 

The  table  showing  the  difference  in  the  working 
abilities  of  twenty  pupils  working  in  Latin  (see 
page  29)  will  indicate  something  of  the  difference  of 
working  places.  There  was  no  required  preparation 
of  lessons  to  be  done  at  home.  No  groups  of  pupils 
could  be  seen  around  the  entrance  of  the  building  in  the 
morning,  or  on  the  way  to  the  school,  with  one  bright 
pupil  reading  over  the  lesson  to  two  or  three  others. 
The  books  were  in  the  Latin  laboratory  and  the  work 
did  not  begin  until  the  pupil  entered  there.  One  study's 
time  was  not  mortgaged  by  another.  Each  stood  by 
itself,  excepting  as  correlation  was  desirable. 

With  this  freedom  in  placing  of  time,  there  were 
no  conflicts  in  programmes;  a  hundred  students  could 
prepare  for  one  hundred  different  colleges,  or  demands 
of  life,  as  well  as  for  one.  Certainly,  this  gathered  into 
the  room  pupils  of  widely  different  advancements;  but 
why  not,  in  Latin  or  in  Greek?  The  same  class  some- 
times had  a  large  number  of  pupils  scattered  widely 
through  Caesar,  and  frequently  there  were  present  cer- 
tain ones  in  Cicero  and  Virgil,  or  in  beginning  Latin; 
but,  in  general,  the  class  of  to-day  contained  those  of 
approximately  the  same  sectional  advancement.  This 
is  the  natural  consequence  of  community  of  interests. 

The  teacher  passed  from  pupil  to  pupil,  sat  in  the 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  227 

same  seat  with  him,  and  then  and  there  directed  his 
study,  gave  him  personal  suggestions,  heard  him  recite, 
and  otherwise  tested  the  soundness  of  his  work.  This 
is  the  soul  of  teaching.  Or  sometimes  the  pupil  came 
to  the  teacher's  desk  for  special  help.  The  marked 
thing  was  the  approachableness  and  helpfulness  of  the 
teacher.  Or  frequently,  as  common  difficulties  or  needs 
appeared,  a  group  of  five  or  six,  working  approximately 
on  the  same  ground,  would  be  called  around  a  con- 
ference table  for  general  recitation.  And  sometimes 
things  of  basic  interest  would  be  presented  to  all  in  the 
room  who  might  find  attention  profitable.  At  no  time 
were  several  pupils  passively  waiting  while  another  re- 
cited. The  whole  work  was  active,  enjoyable,  and  full 
of  personal  victory,  satisfaction,  and  inspiration.  Dur- 
ing its  progress  the  pupils  were  allowed  the  utmost 
liberty  in  taking  care  of  themselves  in  the  room.  They 
could  speak  to  each  other,  sit  or  stand,  change  seats 
at  pleasure,  go  to  reference  library  or  conference  table, 
call  and  conduct  their  own  seminars,  go  to  an  adjoining 
room  for  more  secluded  study  or  companionable  help, 
or  otherwise  look  after  themselves.  The  teacher  was 
their  honoured  associate,  educator,  and  friend. 

When  the  end  of  the  hour  came  for  general  changes, 
or  earlier  if  present  work  rendered  it  best,  the  pupils 
in  leaving  the  laboratory  left  also  their  Latin  or  Greek 
work,  until  they  might  return  the  next  day  or  later  in 
the  same  day.  There  was  no  assignment  of  work  by 
the  teacher.* 

*  An  article  by  the  writer,  on  Individual  Teaching,  in  the  Edu- 
cational Review,  February,  1894,  gives  fuller  description  of  Miss 
Haslup's  work. 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

"  I  would  like  to  ask/'  says  some  earnest  high-school 
principal,  "  concerning  the  quantity  of  work  thus  ac- 
complished by  the  pupils  in  Latin  under  this  method 
and  in  the  limited  hours  given  to  Latin  study.  Presi- 
dent Eliot  says  *  that  in  the  Cambridge  Latin  School 
(six  years)  2,820  lessons  are  given  to  languages  as  com- 
pared with  1,070  lessons  given  to  all  other  subjects ;  in 
the  Ann  Arbor  High  School  (in  seven  courses  taken  to- 
gether) 2,746  lessons  are  given  to  languages  as  com- 
pared with  4,184  lessons  given  to  all  other  subjects; 
in  the  Lawrenceville  school  2,033  lessons  are  given  to 
languages  as  compared  with  1,917  lessons  given  to  all 
other  subjects.  Now,  it  is  a  well-recognised  fact  that 
the  study  requiring  the  most  of  the  pupil's  time  has 
been  Latin.  It  is  this  which  usually  works  the  pupil 
so  many  hours  out  of  school.  How  in  the  world  are 
you  going  to  accomplish  all  the  Latin  study  in  your 
limited  time?  What  is  to  become  of  our  college  prep- 
aration?" 

The  sufficient  reply  to  all  this  is  that  it  has  been 
done.  By  reference  to  the  table  showing  results  in  the 
study  of  Latin  (see  table  entitled  Difference  in  "Work- 
ing '.  'ities  as  Shown  in  the  Study  of  Latin,  presented 
on  par£  ),  it  will  be  seen  that  the  pupils  represented  in 
that  claiL  ost  nothing  by  the  method  of  their  study. 
The  heavyj  fertical  line  in  the  table  at  the  end  of  Book 
I  (54  chapters)  represents  the  work  which  would  have 
been  accomplished  by  these  pupils  in  the  first  half  year 
of  Caesar  study,  if  in  this  school  they  had  proceeded  by 
their  former  class  method.  How  much  have  these  pu- 
pils lost? 

*  Eliot's  Wherein  has  Popular  Education  Failed  ? 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  229 

L'Ecole  des  Roches,  a  new  school  founded  somewhat 
on  the  general  plan  of  the  Abbotsholme  and  just  opened 
in  Paris,  presents  some  very  suggestive  thoughts  con- 
cerning the  teaching  of  Latin  and  Greek.  Says  Demo- 
lins,*  the  founder  of  L'Ecole  des  Roches:  "The 
little  child  at  three  years  of  age  understands  his  mother 
tongue  fairly  well,  and  at  four  can  speak  it.  This  would 
be  true  no  matter  what  his  mother  tongue  might  be — 
French,  German,  English,  Latin,  or  Greek.  But  a  pupil 
passes  into  our  higher  grades  and  spends  several  years 
in  studying,  say  Latin;  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  can 
not  be  said  to  know  much  of  Latin;  and  he  may  go 
through  college  but  yet  can  not  speak  it.  What  makes 
the  difference  in  results?  "  asks  Demolins;  and  then  re- 
plies, "  It  is  because  in  our  higher  education  we  do  not 
use  the  mother-tongue  method.  Therefore,"  says  Demo- 
lins, "we  must  return  to  the  mother-tongue  method." 

The  plan  by  which  this  is  done  in  the  L'Ecole  des 
Roches  is  certainly  worth  very  careful  consideration. 
The  beginning  is  not  with  grammar  nor  the  study  of 
forms.  The  pupil  is  given  many  books  to  read  instead 
of  a  single  text,  no  matter  if  he  does  not  get  much  from 
each.  His  beginning  texts  have  the  Latin  on  onr  ge 
and  the  translation  on  the  other.  From  this  t  apil 
is  expected  to  get  some  impression  of  what  f:i  ijatin 
page  represents,  very  much  as  one  reads  a  pic  ire.  He 
then  covers  the  translation  and  tells  what  he  can  of 
the  interpretation  of  the  Latin  page,  be  it  little  or 

*  Demolins'  Anglo-Saxon  Superiority  (French  and  English 
editions).  Also  T.  R.  Croswell's  L'ficole  des  Roches,  in  Pedagog- 
ical Seminary,  December,  1900.  Also  Dr.  Cecil  Reddie's  The 
Abbotsholme. 


230  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

much.  Thus  he  reads  book  after  book,  gaining  more 
and  more  from  each  as  he  proceeds,  like  any  child  in 
the  study  of  Nature.  His  entire  surroundings  are 
Latin — the  equipment  of  the  room,  the  conversation, 
the  illustrations,  and  the  reproductions  of  Eoman  life. 
During  this  hour  he  hears  nothing  but  Latin,  frames 
his  simple  speech  in  Latin,  and  breathes  the  atmosphere 
of  Latin.  The  walls  of  the  room  are  covered  with 
charts,  carrying,  in  large  letters,  the  declensions,  con- 
jugations, and  elementary  vocabularies.  As  the  pupil 
advances  and  knows  not  a  word,  he  infers  its  mean- 
ing from  the  context  or  glances  at  the  wall  for  his  help. 
Instead  of  first  placing  his  finger  on  the  text-word,  then 
turning  back  to  the  glossary  to  find  his  word,  then 
back  again  to  the  context  because  he  has  forgotten  the 
exact  form  of  the  word,  then  again  to  the  vocabulary, 
and  so  on  until  the  word  is  found,  then  back  and  forth 
once  or  twice  more  because  there  are  several  synonyms, 
and  he  needs  to  decide  which  one  will  fit — instead  of 
all  this  circum-meandering,  the  student  glances  at 
his  chart  on  the  wall  and  immediately  finds  his  help 
in  elementary  work.  Then  as  the  work  progresses  to 
another  stage,  he  places  before  him  on  his  working 
desk  a  triple-folder  chart  card,  which  surrounds  his 
work  with  three  printed  pages  carrying  the  more  ad- 
vanced inflexions,  vocabularies,  and  grammatical  rules ; 
and  from  these,  by  quick  reference,  he  gets  his  needed 
help.  The  plan  is  full  of  attempt  at  the  mother-tongue 
method,  of  short-cuts,  and  of  enrichment  by  bringing 
the  child  into  a  wealth  of  culture  thoughts,  in  which 
we  may  find  "  ideals  of  life  and  visions  of  beauty  which 
can  never  grow  old"  (Hodge).  Do  we  not  make  a 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  231 

mistake  in  our  long-continued  confinement  of  the 
child  to  the  dry  husks  of  grammatical  forms  and  to 
the  single  text  which,  ever  so  fine,  can  not  compare 
with  the  wealth  of  the  contributions  of  many  master 
minds.  Many  may  think  the  method  of  Demolins, 
by  which  he  says  he  has  already  taught  his  own  chil- 
dren and  others,  as  fanciful;  but  still  the  work  contains 
much  that  is  suggestive.  The  educational  world  will 
watch  the  results  at  L'ficole  des  Eoches,  and  the  ap- 
plication of  the  same  methods  elsewhere,  with  much 
interest. 

Music. 

Certainly  music  is  a  school  exercise  requiring  far 
different  procedure  from  any  other  subject.  It  needs 
abundant  concert  exercise  and  should  have  it;  but  it 
must  rely  on  developed  individual  interest.  To  what- 
ever extent  the  general  music  exercise  gives  opportunity 
for  interested,  enjoyable,  and  individual  activity,  to 
that  extent  such  general  exercise  has  high  utility;  but 
the  moment  it. bases  its  work  on  requirement  and  fails 
to  give  this  interested  activity  to  each  and  every  pupil, 
just  then  and  to  that  extent  it  fails  to  accomplish  its 
mission  as  a  legitimate  school  exercise.  There  are 
heights  in  musical  training  entirely  within  the  province 
of  the  school  which  have  never  yet  been  reached  by  the 
school.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  musical  compo- 
sition could  be  more  easily  taught  than  any  other  form 
of  language  expression,  and  the  school  should  bring  to 
every  child  the  uplift  which  comes  from  general  musi- 
cal training,  but  it  should  not  limit  its  work  to  this. 

Wherever  there  are  special  endowments,  here,  as  in 
17 


232  AN   IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

other  departments,  the  school  should  give  encourage- 
ment and  opportunity. 

The  centralization  of.  schools,  as  contemplated  in 
our  plan,  gives  large  opportunity  for  this  work.  It 
gives  to  the  department  the  adequate  equipment  of  mu- 
sical instruments,  inspiring  pictures,  room  of  special 
focus,  and  air  of  proper  temperature  and  freedom  from 
impurities.  It  places  the  music  work  in  the  hands  of 
the  expert  specialist  and  his  well-selected  assistants. 
Director  Charles  S.  Cornell,  in  his  Pueblo  and  Holyoke 
work,  presented  many  suggestive  things  for  considera- 
tion in  this  particular.  Two  hundred  or  more  pupils,  of 
fairly  parallel  grades,  came  to  the  music  room  at  a  single 
time.  This  gave  the  inspiration  which  comes  from  the 
blending  of  many  voices  in  song.  It  also  made  it  possi- 
ble to  segregate  out  of  this  number  those  who  needed 
special  attention,  who  thus  were  able  at  the  same  hour 
to  gather  with  great  profit  in  another  room,  where 
one  or  more  of  the  released  teachers  could  help  them. 
It  was  surprising  how  soon  these  children  could  be 
helped  over  the  difficult  places  and  returned  to  the 
general  concert  room.  It  gave  opportunity  for  other 
occupation  of  some  during  voice  changes  and  other  crit- 
ical times.  Musical  societies  and  orchestras  were  or- 
ganized, musical  libraries  and  festivals  established, 
individual  attention  given,  and  much  was  done  to 
encourage  special  interest.  Artists  of  rare  excellence 
were  secured,  chamber  concerts  were  given,  and  many 
things  done  to  bring  the  children  in  contact  with  the 
best  in  classic  music  and  literature.  As  Dr.  Hodge 
well  says,  "  The  fundamental  human  interest  in  musi- 
cal education  lies  in  developing  in  the  soul  music  which 
shall  keep  it  white,  make  it  unfit  for  c  treasons,  strata- 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  233 

gems,  and  spoils,3  and  put  songs  from  beginning  to 
end  in  the  heart." 

The  plan  of  interpretative  recitals  in  the  Springfield 
(Mass.)  High  School,  designed  entirely  for  pupils  indi- 
vidually interested,  is  also  a  very  suggestive  movement. 

The  special  musical  instruction,  which  some  pupils 
must  take  of  tuition  instructors,  should  be  federated 
with  the  school  work.  The  school  should  furnish  place 
and  hour  and  pass  approval  on  such  instruction.  In 
this  way  much  could  be  done  to  rescue  the  pupil  from 
the  iron  clutch  of  a  practice  which,  in  its  ignorance, 
too  often  spoils  a  child  in  order  to  make  a  very  poor 
musician.* 

BUSINESS  PRACTICE. 

The  past  few  years  have  brought  a  great  change 
from  the  older  uniform  method  of  teaching  book-keep- 
ing. Twenty  years  ago  the  high  school  of  West  Lib- 
erty, Ohio,  conducted  some  most  delightful  exercises, 
wherein  the  individual  student  was  the  unit,  but  with 
all  workers  organized  into  an  interrelated  and  depend- 
ent working  business  community.  The  same  procedure 
has  found  expression  in  the  leading  business  colleges, 
and  from  there  has  worked  its  way  into  high  schools 
more  or  less  everywhere.  Typewriting  is  essentially  in- 
dividual, and  so  also  is  stenography. 

*  In  the  schools  of  Weimar,  Germany,  the  writer  found  most 
excellent  provision  of  this  kind.  In  the  Girls'  High  School  were 
three  rooms,  one  on  each  floor,  containing  pianos  and  other  equip- 
ment for  instruction  in  instrumental  music.  Here  came  outside 
instructors,  under  approval  of  the  school.  The  school  programme 
was  protected,  and  the  pupils  lost  little  time,  and  had  their  music 
lessons  and  practice  under  pedagogic  supervision. 


234:  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

DOMESTIC  SCIENCE. 

Cooking  and  sewing,,  now  much  taught  in  schools, 
are  so  individual  in  their  operations  and  progressions 
as  to  require  no  special  comment.  Indeed,  industrial 
science,  in  its  many  departments,  has  contributed  not 
a  little  to  the  better  conduct  of  work  in  the  other  sub- 
jects of  the  school. 

Now,  all  these  studies  of  the  school  have  been  illus- 
trated here,  not  to  present  details,  which  certainly  must 
endlessly  vary  with  the  personnel  of  schools,  but  to 
show  the  applicability  of  individualism,  with  proper 
modifications  and  adaptations,  to  every  department  of 
school  work.  To  be  true  to  the  interests  of  the  indi- 
vidual, an  exercise  does  not  actually  need  to  isolate 
the  child.  Any  exercise — the  single,  the  group,  or  the 
class — is  essentially  individual  when  it  fits  the  personal 
needs  of  each  and  every  pupil,  and  gives  him  constant 
opportunity  for  activity  and  unlimited  progression. 

What  is  the  place  of  books  in  such  a  scheme  of  edu- 
cation? Are  they  to  ~be  discarded? 

Yes,  and  no.  As  Emerson  says,  "Books  are  the 
best  things  well  used;  abused,  among  the  worst/'  A 
book  should  never  be  permitted  to  obscure  the  vision  of 
Nature.  It  has  its  place,  but  not  in  the  early  education 
of  the  child,  and  only  its  own  place  in  the  later  stages 
of  the  work.  A  bookish  man  is  an  impractical  man; 
he  has  never  been  in  touch  with  life.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able that  the  school  has  too  much  run  to  books;  and 
in  the  making  of  books  much  trash  has  been  placed  be- 
fore the  children.  Says  John  Burroughs,  for  instance, 
concerning  Nature  study,  which  is  fairly  representative 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  235 

of  the  rest:  "  Of  the  books  upon  Nature  study  that  are 
now  issuing  from  the  press  to  meet  this  fancied  want 
of  the  schools,  very  few  of  them,  according  to  my  way 
of  thinking,  are  worth  the  paper  they  are  written  upon. 
They  are  dead,  dead,  and  neither  excite  curiosity  nor 
stimulate  observation/' 

On  the  other  hand,  "  a  good  book  is  the  precious 
life-blood  of  a  master  spirit,  embalmed  and  treasured 
up  on  purpose  to  a  life  beyond  life."  Such  books  have 
their  places  in  the  school.  The  school  should  be  full 
of  them:  not  fifty  copies  of  a  single  rehash,  but  fifty 
books  and  many  more  of  as  many  different  kinds. 
The  methods  here  presented  lead  the  pupil  to  entire 
things  and  direct  him  to  master  works  of  recognised 
authority.  He  is  early  introduced  to  the  larger  texts, 
and  is  taught  to  use  them  as  far  as  they  are  to  him 
serviceable.  When  he  leaves  school  he  realizes  he  has 
a  mere  introduction  to  the  subject,  that  the  vast  fields 
and  treasure  houses  are  beyond  him;  but  he  has  been 
given  the  keys  to  future  research.  As  a  rule,  one  of 
the  most  helpless  men  in  the  world  is  the  college  gradu- 
ate turned  loose  in  a  library  to  find  something,  he  knows 
not  where.  On  the  other  hand,  the  student  who  knows 
how  to  handle  himself  in  quest  of  information  when  he 
wants  it,  is  the  educated  man. 

Recognising  the  value  of  individual  work-  as  has 
been  described,  how  does  the  time  question  work  out? 
If  you  have  forty  pupils  in  a  class,  and  only  forty  min- 
utes for  the  recitation,  and  the  teacher  takes  one  at 
a  time,  it  is  evident  she  can  give  each  pupil  only  one 
minute  of  time.  How  can  anything  be  done  with  that 
limited  time? 


236  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

This  is  the  old,  old  question  that  never  arises  in 
the  experience  of  the  individualistic  teacher,  but  only 
from  looking  at  things  in  the  old,  old  way.  In  the 
first  place,  much  can  be  done  in  even  a  minute  of  time 
properly  utilized.  Second,  no  teacher  ever  attempts 
isolation  as  implied.  Third,  it  is  not  so  much  a  ques- 
tion of  the  teacher's  division  of  time  as  the  pupil's.  It 
is  very  apparent,  if  the  period  is  forty  minutes,  as  im- 
plied in  the  question,  that  each  pupil  gets  the  full  forty 
minutes  instead  of  wasting  thirty-five  passively  waiting 
while  the  others  are  reciting.  He  gets  all  the  time 
instead  of  only  a  part  of  it.  Fourth,  in  addition  to 
this  the  pupil  gains  time  by  all  his  preparation,  recita- 
tion, and  examination  being  merged  largely  into  one 
laboratory  exercise,  so  that  the  period  may  thus  double, 
if  necessary,  the  usual  time  he  gets  from  the  teacher. 
Fifth,  the  question  arises  also  from  a  failure  to  compre- 
hend that  the  teacher  who  has  been  merely  a  hearer  of 
lessons  is  now  transformed  into  a  director  whose  work 
is  to  inspire  others,  to  touch  the  work  at  general  points 
only,  and  to  keep  it  on  the  right  track.  The  work  in 
discovery  is  done  by  the  pupil.  The  fact  is,  there  is  no 
teacher  who  has  so  much  spare  time  for  her  own 
original  work  as  the  one  who  is  thus  surrounded  by  a 
score  of  busy  workers  whose  operations  she  is  merely 
directing. 

How  about  the  number  of  pupils  to  the  teacher? 
Will  not  this  method  demand  that  the  number  should  le 
less? 

The  number  should  be  less  by  any  method.  It  is 
probable  the  individualist  teacher  can  handle  as  large 
numbers  as  the  teacher  of  the  class  method ;  only  in  the 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS.  237 

former  case  the  vitalized  activities  make  deficiencies 
apparent,  while  under  the  passive  practices  of  the  class 
method  no  account  is  usually  taken  of  the  time  wasted 
in  dormancy  and  dreaming.  As  President  Eliot  has 
well  said,  "  The  young  woman  who  stands  before  fifty- 
six  children  attempting  to  give  each  one  that  which  is 
best  for  his  needs,  is  attempting  what  no  mortal  can 
do/'  Half  that  number  is  sufficient.  Our  school  is 
planned  for  approximately  twenty-four  children  to  the 
teacher,  varying  with  subjects.  However,  this  is  en- 
tirely a  question  of  the  teacher  as  a  general.  I  have 
known  teachers  who  could  direct  the  individual  opera- 
tions of  a  hundred  children  all  at  one  time,  and  do  it 
as  well  as  other  fair  teachers  might  direct  ten. 

How  does  tills  method  affect  the  quantity  and  the 
quality  of  the  work  ?  If  you  shorten  the  time  by  cutting 
off  outside  preparation  and  by  confining  all  endeavour 
to  the  laboratory,  can  so  much  be  done? 

We  must  not  fail  to  recognise  the  superability  of 
the  pupil  who  comes  to  his  work  with  the  endowment 
of  better  health.  Such  a  pupil  can  accomplish  more 
and  better  work  in  short  time  than  his  less  favoured 
friend  who  mortgages  his  strength  by  abnormal  hours 
of  study  and  by  worry  over  competitive  results.  It  has 
been  satisfactorily  proven  in  the  experience  of  hundreds 
of  schools  that  the  children  who,  under  the  stress  of  lim- 
ited accommodations,  come  for  a  half-day's  session 
make  their  graded  advancements  as  well  as  others,  pro- 
viding theirs  is  the  morning  session.  It  is  not  quantity 
which  educates,  but  healthy  tension  never  protracted 
beyond  the  normal  point.  As  far  as  quantity  is  con- 
cerned, the  pupil  who  is  given  opportunity  for  vigorous 


238  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

advancement  accomplishes  far  more.  The  individual 
school  can  work  with  less  time  element  and  yet  short- 
circuit  the  usual  curriculum.  It  is  true  there  are  a  few 
pupils  who  apparently  do  not  accomplish  as  much  as 
the  usual  class  would;  but  these  pupils  get  well  what 
they  get,  remain  in  school,  and  returning  at  the  begin- 
ning of  another  year,  take  up  the  work  just  where  they 
individually  left  it.  There  are  no  non-promotions  and 
no  dead  repetitions  of  work.  As  to  quality,  each  pupil 
does  all  his  work,  and  not  fragments  assigned  to  him. 
There  is,  therefore,  little  opportunity  for  rotten  work. 
Based  on  this  higher  quality  of  work  is  the  opportunity 
for  greater  working  quantity. 

What,  then,  is  the  test  of  advancement? 

Simply  this — the  evidence  of  faithful  endeavour 
and  the  satisfactory  completion  of  each  piece  of  work 
before  the  pupil  passes  on  to  a  succeeding  piece. 

With  all  individuals  travelling  pretty  much  as  they 
please,  with  minimum  and  extension  courses  of  study, 
how  can  pupils  ever  be  brought  together  again  for  entrance 
to  any  other  school,  or  to  any  common  classification 
whatever1? 

That  is  purely  a  question  of  the  superintendent — 
of  the  director-general;  but  the  plan  makes  supervision 
scientific  and  interesting.  Certainly  it  is  much  easier 
to  run  all  trains  by  a  fixed  schedule;  but  with  trains 
one  year  apart  there  is  apt  to  be  a  good  deal  of  time 
lost  between  times  by  many  who  would  like  to  travel. 

The  presentation  so  far  has  said  very  little  about 
vacations.  Would  your  schools  remain  open  the  entire 
year? 

No ;  there  are  other  things  besides  the  school  which 


ILLUSTRATIVE  METHODS-  230 

belong  to  the  life  of  the  child.  The  first  term  should 
begin  about  the  usual  time  in  the  fall  and  run  fourteen 
weeks.  A  vacation  of  four  weeks,  beginning  two  weeks 
before  Christmas,  should  then  be  given  for  enjoyment 
of  the  home,  visiting,  and  holiday  festivities.  The  sec- 
ond term,  beginning  two  weeks  after  Christmas, 
should  continue  for  twelve  to  fourteen  weeks,  to  be 
followed  by  four  weeks  more  of  vacation.  This  vaca- 
tion should  be  variable  in  beginning,  as  proposed,  but 
in  time  should  comprehend  Easter  and  the  usual  spring 
confirmations.  It  is  the  adolescent  season  of  the  year. 
Spring  fever,  with  all  it  suggests,  is  a  very  plain  phys- 
ical intimation  that  work  should  be  lightened  at  this 
time  of  the  year.  The  annual  music  festival,  which 
every  community  should  have,  might  well  come  during 
this  vacation.  The  spring  term  should  contain  ten 
weeks,  or  only  eight  if  the  middle  term  has  been  pro- 
longed beyond  twelve  weeks.  Then  should  come  the 
summer  vacation  of  eight  weeks,  with  generous  encour- 
agement for  camping,  life  at  the  seashore  or  in  the 
country,  and  for  travel.  During  the  summer  months 
the  school  farm,  in  part  at  least,  should  be  opened  for 
the  use  of  many  children  who  can  not  leave  the  city, 
and  who  might  find  advantage  in  the  more  healthful 
occupations  of  the  larger  play  and  garden  school.* 

*  "  The  observations  of  Malling-Hansen  on  Danish  children 
from  nine  to  fifteen  years  of  age  show  that  by  far  the  most  rapid 
increase  in  stature  was  in  the  third  of  the  year  between  the  mid- 
dle of  April  and  the  middle  of  August,  while  the  third  of  the  year 
between  the  middle  of  August  and  the  middle  of  December  was 
the  one  in  which  they  gained  nine  elevenths  of  their  annual 
increases  in  weight."  (Donaldson,  p.  88.) 


CHAPTER   X. 

APPLICABILITY  TO  DIFFERENT  GEADES  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

THE  essential  principles  of  scientific  instruction  are 
the  same  for  all  stages  of  education.  Certainly  there 
must  be  adaptation  of  methods  for  the  best  conserva- 
tion of  these  principles  in  different  schools;  but,  never- 
theless, "the  child  is  the  father  of  the  man/'  and  the 
man  is  little  more  .than  the  better-educated  child. 
Choice,  self-government,  true  motive,  habits  of  enjoy- 
able industry,  exercise  of  creative  faculty,  self -activity, 
opportunity  for  individual  progress,  the  relation  of 
work  to  life  purpose,  the  pleasures  of  original  discov- 
ery and  unlimited  variations — these  are  the  essential 
elements  in  education,  and  their  functions  pertain  just 
as  much  to  the  normal  development  of  a  child  as  of 
the  man. 

THE  KINDERGARTEN. 

The  philosophy  of  Froebel  is  built  fundamentally  on 
the  preciousness  of  individuality.  Here  in  the  kinder- 
garten may  be  seen  individual  freedom,  initiative,  op- 
portunity, and  conservation,  and  their  perfect  com- 
patibility with  sociologistic  relations.  Choice,  sponta- 
neity, self -activity,  and  well-directed  but  unrestrained 
creation  are  fundamental  factors  in  the  kindergarten. 
In  its  operations  the  kindergarten  reaches  upward,  over 
340 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.        241 

a  vast  gap  in  the  intervening  school,  and  clasps  hands 
with  the  university  in  effective  conservation  of  the  indi- 
vidual. Undoubtedly,  the  kindergarten  must  face  the 
just  demands  for  a  more  philosophic  application  of 
great  essential  principles,  and  must  zealously  repel  the 
growing  tendency  to  uniformitize  its  methods,  and  as 
well  save  itself  from  incompetence  and  misconception; 
but  its  work,  even  under  unfavourable  conditions,  has 
been  so  far  above  that  of  the  succeeding  grades  that 
it  is  deserving  of  great  credit.  Indeed,  it  has  been  sug- 
gestive to  the  whole  field  of  elementary  education. 

THE  PRIMARY  SCHOOL. 

Pestalozzi  taught  that  "the  individuality  of  the 
child  is  sacred  "  and  that  "  the  child  wishes  nothing  to 
intervene  between  Nature  and  himself.  .  .  .  Man,  it  is 
within  yourself,  it  is  in  the  inner  sense  of  your  power, 
that  resides  Nature's  instrument  for  your  development." 
Here  came  the  first  great  farm  school,  where  books  were 
excluded  and  the  children  brought  face  to  face  with 
Nature.  "  We  ought  to  read  nothing,"  said  Pestalozzi; 
"  we  ought  to  discover  everything." 

Superintendent  W.  F.  Bliss,  of  Colton,  Cal.,  has 
been  remarkably  successful  in  the  application  of  the 
principles  of  individualism  to  the  primary  grades,  even 
in  the  work  usually  required  in  such  schools.  The  cut- 
and-dried  programme,  usually  posted  on  the  door  or 
wall,  has  no  place  in  this  school.  The  periods  are  longer 
than  in  most  schools;  but  there  is  no  danger  of  over- 
tension,  because  the  school  is  filled  with  life  and  spon- 
taneity. There  is  a  busy  hum  and  bustle  that  reminds 
one  of  the  beehive.  The  teacher  is  here  and  there,  meet- 


24:2  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ing  each  one  at  the  point  of  his  difficulty,  grouping 
together  several  for  a  class  presentation,  giving  a  key 
to  interest  and  recovery  to  some  lost  pupil,  directing 
the  active  energies  of  a  whole  room  of  busy  workers, 
but  gaining  much  for  herself  from  the  children's  dis- 
coveries. Other  schools  are  grasping  hopelessly  at  re- 
lief from  the  ennui  arising  from  the  programme,  al- 
ready chopped  into  small  fragments  to  bring  relief  by 
frequent  change  of  exercises ;  but  here  is  a  school  which 
does  not  hesitate  to  spend  the  larger  part  of  an  entire 
session  on  a  single  exercise,  if  found  desirable,  with- 
out fear  of  overtension,  because  the  work  is  largely 
related  to  play.  Says  Superintendent  Bliss:  "A  men- 
tal wave,  charged  with  a  given  subject,  re-enforced 
by  the  activity  on  every  side,  was  palpitating  through 
the  room.  The  psychological  effect  of  this  flow  of  con- 
centrated energy  seems  to  be  worthy  of  consideration.''9 
"  What,"  exclaims  Froebel,  "  if  we  could  give  the  child 
that  which  is  called  education  through  his  voluntary 
activities  and  have  him  always  eager  as  he  is  at  play!  '' 
Well,  why  not  do  it? 

A  regular  instructor  in  the  model  department  of  the 
State  Normal  School  at  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  where  she  had 
charge  of  the  pupils  of  the  second  grade  (approximately 
seven  years  of  age),  writes:  "  After  an  eleven  weeks'  test 
I  stood  amazed  before  the  facts  that  confronted  me. 
Among  my  brighter,  more  independent  pupils  the  power 
developed,  the  solid  healthy  progress  made  in  that  time, 
was  something  that  seemed  impossible  in  the  light  of 
past  experience.  Children  that  I  had  previously  kept 
down  to  ten  or  twelve  words,  were  now  learning  from 
twenty  to  thirty  words  a  day,  and  were  building  up  for 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.      '243 

themselves,  from  outside  sources,  vocabularies  that  on 
an  average  reached  fifty  words,  and  often,  in  the  cases 
of  the  brightest  pupils,  amounted  to  over  a  hundred. 
.  .  .  But  the  feature  that  ennobles  the  work  and  gives 
it  right  to  consideration  over  all  other  methods  of 
teaching  is  its  recognition  of  the  slow  pupil,  its  hold- 
ing of  his  rights  as  sacred  as  any  other's.  .  .  .  With  my 
own  little  slow  ones  I  saw  one  after  another,  after  a  short 
time  of  quiet  study  apart  with  his  teacher,  begin  to 
advance  from  the  point  where  he  had  been  master  of 
his  work.  They  did  not  go  hesitatingly  into  the  new 
lessons.  Young  as  some  of  them  were,  they  yet  under- 
stood what  they  were  working  for.  They  grasped  the 
reality  of  something  definitely  accomplished  from  day 
to  day  and  gained  confidence.  Then,  as  I  watched  them 
push  ahead  under  this  new  inspiration,  a  question 
forced  itself  upon  me  and  would  not  be  overlooked: 
What  right  have  we,  teachers  or  parents,  to  allow  our 
children  to  begin  their  school  life  under  the  stigma  of 
stupid  or  dullard  until  after  every  opportunity  has 
been  used  to  develop  their  best  powers?  But  that  de- 
velopment can  only  come  when  the  child  is  taken  at  his 
own  level,  not  an  arbitrary  line  placed  by  twelve,  fifteen, 
or  twenty  others  representing  a  wide  range  of  mental 
and  physical  capacities.  It  is  a  question  of  fair  play" 

INTERMEDIATE  SCHOOL. 

Another  teacher,  in  her  work  at  Pueblo,  Colo., 
and  Pasadena,  Cal.,  has  attracted  great  attention  by  her 
successful  application  of  individual  conservation  to  the 
intermediate  grades.  There  is  apparently  no  attempt  at 
government,  and  yet  the  best  of  government  prevails.  If 


244  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

to  these  children  there  is  any  happy  place  in  the  world, 
it  is  their  school  room.  Here  is  association  with  a 
teacher  whose  heart  is  full  of  sunshine  and  warmth. 
Every  pupil  has  opportunity  to  do  all  he  can  do  well, 
and  is  aglow  with  the  spirit  of  his  work.  The  teacher 
does  not  seem  to  be  busy;  but  yet  at  the  same  time  she 
has  the  knack  of  being  just  at  the  right  place  at  the 
right  time,  of  saying  the  word  most  helpful  at  any 
given  point  in  the  individual's  work.  There  is  no 
noisy  instruction  and  there  appears  to  be  little  teach- 
ing; but  there  is  an  immense  amount  of  quiet,  per- 
sistent work  resulting  from  the  energies  of  nearly  three- 
score vitalized  children  being  skilfully  turned  on  ac- 
complishment which  each  one  feels  to  be  his  own. 
There  are  no  dead  points  in  this  school;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  guiding  hand  is  so  gentle  yet  skilful 
that  its  presence  is  scarcely  felt.  This  is  high  art  in 
teaching. 

The  intermediate  school,  as  has  already  been  shown, 
is  the  place  where  the  child  should  receive  much  drill 
in  fundamental  elements  and  processes,  which  are 
largely  necessary  to  his  capable  work  in  subsequent 
schools.  It  is  very  possible  that  many  things  here,  on 
which  individual  initiative  and  opportunity  are  Hot  de- 
pendent, can  best  be  presented  in  class  exercises.  If 
this  is  the  case,  the  pupil  should  have  just  that  kind  of 
occasional  drill,  just  as  they  should  in  any  earlier  or 
later  subject  of  study;  but  the  confinement  of  a  child 
to  class  drill  for  a  larger  part  of  the  time  would  be 
unfortunate  indeed. 

Many  teachers  prepare  a  large  amount  of  occupa- 
tion work,  involving  an  immense  range  of  individual 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       245 

exercises.  It  is  very  interesting  to  note  how  skilfully 
this  is  done  in  a  school  in  Worcester,  and  also  how  effec- 
tive the  work  is  in  directing  the  active  energies  of  pupils 
of  widely  different  capabilities.  The  typewriter  and  the 
mimeograph  have  an  important  role  to  play  in  the 
newer  school.  Indeed,  the  school  of  the  future  will  also 
be  something  of  a  printing  establishment. 

There  is  much  in  the  school  of  Pestalozzi  that  ap- 
plies to  other  fields  of  elementary  education;  but  per- 
haps reference  to  it  may  best  be  made  here. 

Says  Vulliemin,  concerning  Pestalozzi's  work:  "  In- 
struction was  addressed  to  the  intelligence  rather  than 
to  the  memory.  Attempt,  said  Pestalozzi  to  his  col- 
leagues, to  develop  the  child,  and  not  to  train  him  as 
one  trains  a  dog.  .  .  .  Language  was  taught  us  by  the 
aid  of  sense-perception;  we  learned  to  see  correctly,  and 
through  this  very  process  to  form  for  ourselves  a  cor- 
rect idea  of  the  relations  of  things.  What  we  had  con- 
ceived clearly  we  had  no  difficulty  in  expressing  clearly. 
.  .  .  The  first  elements  of  geography  were  taught  us 
on  the  spot.  .  .  .  Then  we  reproduced  in  relief  with 
clay  the  valley  of  which  we  had  made  a  study.  .  .  . 
We  were  made  to  invent  geometry  by  having  marked 
out  for  us  the  end  to  reach,  and  by  being  put  on  the 
route.  The  same  course  was  followed  in  arithmetic; 
our  computations  were  made  in  the  head,  and  viva  voce, 
without  the  aid  of  paper." 

THE  GRAMMAR  SCHOOL. 

In  the  city  of  Los  Angeles  individual  teaching,  in- 
volving the  work  of  fifteen  thousand  pupils,  reached 
some  exceedingly  interesting  results,  although  the  work 


246  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

was  in  operation  under  abnormally  unfavourable  op- 
portunities for  its  direction,  and  was  terminated  ab- 
ruptly by  a  foreign  decree  which  returned,  at  the  end 
of  fourteen  weeks,  all  work  to  the  class  method.  'Among 
many  other  very  successful  teachers  in  the  conduct  of 
the  work,  I  recall  one  whose  work  was  highly  competent, 
and  who  reached  some  surprisingly  good  results.  In 
response  to  a  questionnaire  Miss  Joy  reported  as  follows 
(abbreviated)  concerning  the  work  of  thirty  eighth- 
grade  pupils  under  her  charge : 

"  Pupil  1 — Completed  the  course  in  fourteen  weeks, 
usually  requiring  twenty  weeks.  Did  a  great  deal  of 
supplementary  work  in  history  and  mathematics. 
Gained  much  mental  strength  in  this  period. 

"Pupil  2 — While  carrying  on  the  other  work  very 
satisfactorily,  made  excellent  progress  in  mathematics 
doing  work  usually  requiring  twenty-five  weeks. 

"  Pupil  3 — Came  into  class  several  weeks  after  term 
had  commenced.  Though  handicapped,  made  special 
advancement,  particularly  in  language  and  history.  In 
language,  covered  well  in  ten  weeks  work  ordinarily 
requiring  eighteen  weeks. 

"  Pupils  4-0 — These  six  pupils  made  special  ad- 
vancement in  history,  the  system  enabling  them  to  carry 
on  researches  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  would  have 
been  possible  otherwise. 

"Pupil  10 — Made  special  advancement  in  mathe- 
matics and  history.  Had  the  system  been  followed  until 
the  end  of  the  term,  he  would  have  finished  the  course  in 
five  weeks  less  than  time  ordinarily  taken. 

"Pupil  11 — Would  have  completed  the  term's  work 
in  four  weeks  less  than  the  ordinary  time.  His  work 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

was  more  thoroughly  done  than  would  have  been  pos- 
sible in  class  work. 

"  Pupils  12-28 — My  entire  B  class  (17  in  number), 
with  the  exception  of  two  pupils,  did  history  work  in 
six  weeks  that  by  the  class  method  has  always  taken 
eight  weeks.  Their  work  was  more  satisfactory  and 
their  knowledge  far  more  extended  than  would  have 
been  possible  had  the  class  plan  been  the  only  one 
followed. 

"Pupil  29 — Worked  along  faithfully  and  content- 
edly while  the  individual  method  was  followed;  but 
upon  returning  to  the  class  method  he  soon  became  dis- 
couraged, in  spite  of  my  efforts  to  encourage  him.  He 
was  slow  in  mathematics  and  language  and  sensitive 
to  a  great  degree.  He  is  older  than  his  classmates, 
and  I  fear  he  will  not  return  to  school.  The  individual 
method  is  by  all  means  the  one  for  his  kind. 

"Pupil  30 — Worked  along  much  more  ambitiously 
and  eagerly  after  the  inauguration  of  the  individual 
work.  He  was  slow,  but  I  felt  that  every  step  forward 
was  firmly  taken.  I  felt  much  pleased  with  his  prog- 
ress and  mental  awakening.  Upon  return  to  the  class 
system  he  became  discouraged,  and,  much  to  my  regret, 
left  school  two  weeks  before  the  term  closed. 

"  Slow  Pupils. — In  answer  to  the  special  question 
as  to  what  opportunities  are  offered  the  so-called  dul- 
lards, I  have  to  say :  In  the  course  of  a  fourteen  weeks' 
trial  of  the  individual  system  of  work  and  the  return 
at  the  end  of  that  time  to  class  work,  I  have  found 
that  the  individual  system  is  the  system  best  fitted  for 
the  dull  pupils,  who  are  in  most  cases  very  slow.  A 
large  part  of  their  dulness  is  their  very  apparent  in- 
18 


248  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

ability  to  keep  up  with  their  brighter  and  quicker 
schoolmates.  They  are  physically  and  mentally  unable 
to  assimilate  the  same  amount  of  mental  food.  Class 
work  becomes  (  cramming '  to  them,  and  this,  as  every 
one  knows,  is  extremely  harmful." 

A  school  of  fifty  eighth-grade  pupils,  so  full  of  life, 
vim,  and  fun  that  the  school-house  could  scarcely  con- 
tain them,  by  a  change  of  teachers  after  the  year  had 

started,  came  under  the  instruction  of in 

Pueblo,  Colo.  Under  his  skilful  direction,  sitting  the 
most  of  the  time  at  his  desk  (in  feeble  health),  the 
solid  phalanx  of  fifty  irrepressible  spirits  broke  up 
into  several  working  groups  under  the  spirit  of  indi- 
vidual responsibility.  These  larger  groups  differenti- 
ated gradually  into  smaller  ones,  and  soon  the  smaller 
groups  into  individuals,  each  working,  progressing,  and 
qualifying  according  to  his  individual  ability.  The  exu- 
berant spirit,  which  before  had  bubbled  over  in  count- 
less tricks  and  escapades,  now  spent  itself  in  the  doing 
of  work  which  completely  occupied  every  individual 
worker  by  opportunity  of  continuous  advance  at  every 
step  of  the  way.  The  instructor,  coddling  his  pupils  and 
adroitly  used  by  them  in  the  doing  of  their  work,  had 
disappeared;  while  in  his  stead  there  came  a  school 
of  intensely  busy  workers,  each  proud  of  his  growing 
strength  and  conscious  independent  advancement.  At 
first  there  was,  with  many,  the  feeling  of  helplessness 
that  comes  even  to  the  older  person  when  suddenly  cut 
loose  from  the  strong  hand  that  has  carried  him;  but, 
with  all  text  advancement  subordinated  to  the  pre- 
requisite development  of  self-reliant,  independent,  per- 
sonal action,  there  soon  came  surprising  results  in  indi- 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       249 

vidual  and  unaided  power  to  do  work,  and  the  school 
became  a  self-operating  body  whose  central  unit  was 
the  individual  working  in  harmony  with  his  fellows. 

Then  came  sickness,  which  left  the  school  without 
a  teacher  for  the  remaining  eleven  weeks  of  the  school 
year — purposely  without  a  teacher,  for  the  superin- 
tendent wished  to  see  the  extent  to  which  the  new  work 
could  run  itself.  The  school,  without  suggestion,  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  three  to  look  after  all  matters 
of  general  arrangement.  There  was  perfect  working 
harmony.  The  school,  moving  in  line,  was  always 
promptly  on  time  in  its  appointments  at  the  shops, 
gymnasium,  and  the  music  and  drawing  exercises. 
Each  individual  closed  up  and  completed  his  work  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  year,  and  without  suggestion  spent 
his  superfluous  time  in  perfecting  his  studies  or  on 
points  of  personal  weakness.  The  note-books,  records, 
and  manuscripts  were  passed  in  in  highly  satisfactory 
condition,  and  attracted  much  attention  at  the  annual 
exhibition  at  the  end 'of  the  year;  and  the  entire  work 
was  so  well  performed  that  a  stranger  in  the  building 
would  scarcely  have  known  the  absence  of  the  teacher. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  these  pupils  were  all  promoted 
to  the  high  school,  with  no  discovery  in  subsequent 
years  to  reflect  on  the  quality  of  this  work  done  with- 
out a  teacher  during  eleven  weeks  of  time.  A  large 
percentage  of  this  class  is  in  college  at  the  present 
time.  This  matter  of  history  is  not  presented  to  show 
the  value  of  no  teacher,  but  of  pupils  trained  to  self- 
reliant,  independent,  and  inspired  work.  Scores  of 
references  could  be  made  to  similar  work,  but  this  one 
will  be  sufficiently  illustrative. 


250  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

THE  HIGH  SCHOOL. 

The  Central  High  School  *  of  Pueblo,  Colo.,  under 
the  skilful  instruction  of  a  corps  of  highly  qualified 
associate  workers,  has  attracted  much  attention  to  its 
methods  during  the  past  ten  years.  In  1892  all  re- 
quired home  study  was  discontinued;  nevertheless,  the 
school  still  prepared  for  life  and  for  college  as  well  as  its 
competitors.  The  daily  session  was  five  and  a  half 
hours.  The  first  half  hour  was  given  to  music  on  three 
days,  a  lecture  on  Wednesday,  and  a  pupils'  concert  on 
Friday.  The  remaining  time  was  divided  into  five  pe- 
riods one  hour  long.  Every  pupil  spent  one  hour  in 
the  gymnasium,  leaving  four  hours  for  three  other 
studies,  more  or  less,  as  the  pupils  chose  to  carry.  It 
was  expected  that  each  pupil  should  place  regularly 
one  hour  per  day  on  each  of  his  three  studies.  The 
extra  hour,  in  the  cases  of  beginning  pupils,  was  as- 
signed to  exercises  of  greatest  need ;  but  to  older  pupils, 
trained  to  responsibility  and  the  plan,  it  was  a  free 
hour  to  be  spent  on  exercises  of  greatest  interest  or 
need.  All  the  work,  study,  recitation,  and  examination 
was  done  in  the  respective  laboratories,  and,  as  far  as 
requirement  is  concerned,  within  this  specified  time. 
There  were,  no  doubt,  home  inventions  and  home  read- 
ings suggested  by  and  growing  out  of  the  school  work, 
but  no  home  work  was  required.  At  the  beginning  of 
each  hour  an  electric  bell  made  all  general  changes; 
but  there  was  no  limitation  on  trained  pupils  passing 
at  any  time  from  room  to  room  as  shorter  or  longer 

*  Educational  Review,  February,  1894. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.        251 

exercises  required.  Each  instructor  had  his  own 
equipped  laboratory,  shop,  or  studio,  and  was  there  for 
the  convenience  of  the  pupils.  As  a  rule,  the  working 
sections  came  in  classes  at  specified  times;  but  there 
was  no  reason  why  pupils,  whose  progress  made  this 
inconvenient,  or  who  wished  special  or  more  extended 
help,  work,  or  study,  should  not  come  at  any  time.  Al- 
though the  laboratory  was  filled  with  active  work,  the 
instructor  always  had  time  to  be  approachable.  The 
greatest  people  in  the  world  are  the  approachable  ones. 
Indeed,  they  are  great  largely  because  they  glean  from 
an  army  of  workers.  Everything  is  grist  which  comes 
to  their  mill. 

In  this  school  there  was  unlimited  opportunity  for 
individual  advancement.  There  was  no  time  require- 
ment; the  pupil  could  complete  the  high-school  course 
in  his  own  time.  He  could  take  the  usual  number  of 
studies,  or  more,  or  less,  and,  if  necessary,  only  one. 
There  was  no  advance  assignment  of  lessons;  but  the 
work  accomplished  was  far  greater  than  that  ordinarily 
done.  The  teacher  was  the  child's  helper,  and  the  dis- 
coveries of  the  pupils  added  much  to  the  happiness  of  the 
teachers.  The  school  was  a  miniature  community,  self- 
governing,  self-reliant,  and  happy,  because  its  individ- 
ual members  were  also  self-governing,  self-reliant,  and 
happy. 

The  Oakland  (Cal.)  High  School,  under  the  prin- 
cipalship  of  J.  B.  McChesney,  accomplished  some 
equally  excellent  results  in  furnishing  opportunity  to 
the  individual.  The  departments  in  science,  literature, 
history,  mathematics,  modern  languages,  classical  lan- 
guages, drawing,  and  physical  culture  contributed  some 


252  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

very  valuable  suggestions  to  the  conduct  of  the  work 
elsewhere. 

Concerning  the  work  in  the  Los  Angeles  High 
School,  Principal  Gates  said  in  his  annual  report:  "  The 
work  under  the  individual  system  during  the  second 
semester  was  highly  satisfactory.  It  was  favoured  by 
a  large  majority  of  the  teachers  and  bitterly  opposed 
by  a  small  minority.  But  the  twelve  weeks  that  it 
was  in  operation  proved  to  me  all  that  is  claimed  by  it. 
The  time  alone  that  it  saves  the  pupil  ought  to  place  it 
far  ahead  of  our  present  graded  machine.  Pupils  reach 
our  high  school  now  at  the  average  of  sixteen.  They 
ought  to  reach  it  at  fourteen,  and  probably  would  if  they 
only  had  the  opportunity  of  doing  all  they  are  capable 
of  doing." 

The  Holyoke  High  School  *  presented  a  course  of 
study  which  has  been  widely  suggestive  in  the  past 
few  years.  Principal  Keyes  has  had  no  hesitation  in  say- 
ing that  "  if  in  the  course  of  time  five  hundred  pupils 
graduate  from  this  institution,  it  will  be  possible  for 
these  five  hundred  students  to  come  to  their  graduation 
through  five  hundred  different  courses  of  study."  The 
equipment  of  this  school  will  be  highly  suggestive  to 
those  interested  in  this  phase  of  instruction. 

The  principal  of  the  Field  High  School,,  Leominster, 
Mass.,  has  been  one  of  the  strongest  exponents  of  indi- 
vidual training.  He  has  contributed  many  articles  of 
great  value  in  lucid  exposition  of  this  phase  of  educa- 
tion. His  work,  formerly  at  Orange,  Mass.,  but  now  at 
Leominster.,  will  well  repay  a  careful  examination.  An 

*  The  Larger  High  School.    School  Review,  April,  1900. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.        253 

illustration  of  the  working  of  one  of  his  classes  is  given 
in  another  discussion.* 

Very  valuable  work  also  has  been  done  in  the  Girls' 
High  School,  Boston,  and  in  the  San  Diego  High 
School  of  California.  Lewis  Institute  of  Chicago  is  also 
organized  fundamentally  along  the  same  lines.  The  re- 
markable growth  of  the  Fitchburg  (Mass.)  High  School 
had  its  explanation  in  the  liberal  individual  opportunity 
therein  granted  pupils. 

THE  CITY  SYSTEM. 

While  much  can  be  done,  and  is  done  in  many  places, 
along  the  lines  described,  by  individual  teachers  here 
and  there  without  respect  to  the  work  of  their  associate 
teachers,  it  stands  to  reason  the  plan  can  only  reach 
high  success  where  there  is  unity  in  plan  throughout 
the  entire  system  of  schools.  If  the  majority  of  teach- 
ers are  securing  work  by  requirement,  the  work  of  the 
teacher  who  makes  no  requirement  is  likely  to  suffer. 
It  is  not  the  fragment  of  the  pupil  that  is  to  be  trained 
to  work  from  better  motive  and  with  better  habits,  but 
the  whole  individual.  Then,  again,  laboratory  work 
calls  for  a  longer  period  to  do  its  work.  The  entire  aim 
in  the  work  is  different.  The  school  wherein  the  indi- 
vidual is  the  unit  sacrifices  everything  first  to  get  inter- 
est, true  motive,  and  correct  habits  of  work,  and  in  the 
early  stages  of  its  work  ought  not  to  be  compared  with 
other  schools  where  present  superficial  results  may  ap- 
pear better.  However,  no  city  school  system  under  pres- 
ent environments  can  be  ideal;  and  such  a  system  must 

*  Page  168. 


254  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

be  leavened  by  model  work  here  and  there  in  its 
parts. 

The  individual  work  in  the  Pueblo  Industrial  Pub- 
lic Schools  *  has  already  been  mentioned.  While  it 
stood  probably  first  in  time  in  an  attempt  to  recon- 
struct a  school  system  of  any  size,  it  perhaps  need  not, 
under  the  circumstances  of  personal  connection  there- 
with, be  described  in  detail.  It  was  an  evolution,  not 
a  revolution,  and  found  its  way  so  gradually  into  opera- 
tion that  the  change  at  any  one  time  was  scarcely  rec- 
ognised. Perhaps  it  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  that 
it  was  a  development  of  a  series  of  experiments,  begin- 
ning in  West  Liberty,  Ohio,  1877-'83,  and  Sidney,  Ohio, 
1883-'88,  and  reaching  its  moderate  efficiency  in  Pueb- 
lo, Colo.,  in  1888-'94,  with  very  successful  continuation 
later  by  Superintendent  J.  F.  Keating  and  his  progres- 
sive teachers.  Davis  H.  Forsythe  writes :  "  Individual- 
ism in  education  is  the  oldest  of  systems;  but  the  city  of 
Pueblo,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  the  distinguished  credit 
of  having  first  formulated  a  practical  scheme  applicable 
to  a  large  school  community.  She  is  no  longer  alone; 
others  have  caught  the  inspiration,  and  the  Pueblo  sys- 
tem has  been  introduced  into  prominent  schools  both 
on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  slopes." 

The  city  of  Los  Angeles,  CaL,  published  several 
manuals  f  in  1895,  which  may  be  suggestive  in  studying 
the  history  of  the  work  in  the  schools  of  that  city. 

The  schools  of  North  Denver,  Colo.,  while  under  the 

*  Working  Directions.  Pueblo  Industrial  Public  Schools, 
Pueblo,  Colo.,  1892.  Also,  Educational  Review,  February,  1894. 

f  Manuals  One,  Two,  Three,  and  Four.  Los  Angeles  Schools, 
1895. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.        255 

development  .of  Superintendent  J.  H.  Van  Sickle,  were 
a  most  excellent  exposition  of  systematic  organization 
for  effective  individual  training.  The  characteristics  of 
Superintendent  Van  Sickle's  plan  may  be  said  to  be — 
individual  responsibility;  semi-annual  class  promotions, 
attended  with  individual  extensions;  a  minimum  of  re- 
quirement with  a  maximum  of  opportunity;  opportunity 
for  a  pupil  to  take  whatever  number  of  studies  is  best 
for  him  individually,  and  to  place  most  time  on  exercises 
of  greatest  personal  need;  additional  time  for  study  in 
the  school;  greater  interest  in  school  work,  and  less 
losses  to  the  school.  The  high-school  graduations  are 
held  semi-ammally.  Of  the  101  pupils  graduated  under 
this  plan  up  to  the  date  of  Superintendent  Van  Sickle's 
report  *  no  two  pursued  identically  the  same  course  of 
study. 

The  Friends'  School  of  Germantown,  Pa.,  by  vote 
of  the  Society,  following  the  report  of  an  inspector  sent 
to  visit  the  schools  of  Pueblo  in  1894,  made  individual 
teaching  the  adopted  form  of  work.  Says  the  prin- 
cipal: "I  believe  individualism  in  elementary  school 
work,  with  all  that  goes  with  it,  will  save  much  time  in 
the  school  life  of  an  ordinary  child,  will  graduate  him 
earlier  and  in  better  health,  with  an  intellect  that  has 
gained  in  power,  because  it  has  grown  to  know  what 
it  is  to  possess  power." 

The  schools  of  Worcester,  Mass.  (Superintendent 
Clarence  F.  Carroll),  have  a  very  flexible  grouping  sys- 
tem, by  which  the  pupils  are  promoted  more  easily  from 
grade  to  grade.  In  each  room  there  are  several  groups, 

*  Proceedings  of  Department  of  Superintendents,  1898. 


256  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

usually  from  four  to  six  in  number,  and  these  groups 
are  subject  to  change  from  day  to  day.  Also,  the  group 
to  which  any  one  child  belongs  may  be  very  different 
for  the  several  studies.  The  result  of  this  convenient 
adjustment  is  that  the  children  of  the  schools  of 
Worcester  do  not  often  fail  to  do  the  work  but  reach  the 
higher  grades  earlier  and  in  larger  numbers  than  is  the 
case  in  almost  any  other  large  city  in  America. 

The  same  plan  is  in  operation  in  the  schools  of 
Stockton,  Cal.;  in  Youngstown,  Ohio;  Jamestown, 
N.  Y.;  and  Hamilton,  Ohio;  and,  with  some  modifica- 
tions but  many  excellent  and  characteristic  features, 
in  the  schools  of  Elizabeth,  N".  J. 

The  Cambridge  plan  has  some  very  attractive  fea- 
tures. The  course  of  study  is  so  built  and  the  promo- 
tions so  made  that  pupils  may  complete  the  grammar- 
school  course  in  the  usual  four  years,  or  they  may  do 
the  work  in  either  three  or  five  years.  The  work  is  con- 
ducted largely  by  the  class  method. 

Thirty  years  ago  Superintendent  William  T.  Harris, 
now  Commissioner  of  Education,  organized  his  schools 
in  St.  Louis  so  that  the  class  intervals  would  be 
by  the  quarter  year  and  half  year,  and  not  the  full 
year  as  in  schools  ordinarily.  This  was  found  to  effect 
a  great  accommodation  in  getting  pupils  into  classes 
according  to  their  different  abilities,  and  was  the  best 
thing  in  that  day  in  the  grading  of  city  schools.  Better 
than  this  is  Superintendent  Van  Sickle's  plan  of  mini- 
mum requirement  and  extension  opportunities  under 
the  same  teacher.  Still  better  is  the  laboratory  plan, 
which  permits  continuous  individual  progress  under  the 
same  teachers  for  several  consecutive  years  of  time. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       257 

In  what  way  do  the  short-interval  method  and  the 
grouping  method  differ  from  the  plan  presented,  and 
in  what  way  also  is  the  latter  different  from  the  old 
ungraded-school  method?  Would  you  have  us  return 
to  the  ungraded  school? 

The  short-interval  method,  and  very  frequently  the 
grouping  method,  while  far  superior  to  the  more  usual 
class  method  with  promotions  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
have  their  decided  limitations  in  that  they  change  the 
teacher  too  frequently.  It  is  desirable  that  children 
should  remain  longer  with  the  teacher  rather  than  for 
shorter  time;  hence,  the  strong  argument  for  depart- 
mental work.  Unless  the  greatest  caution  is  exercised, 
the  splitting  of  the  grades  into  smaller  sections,  which 
are  still  grades,  only  tends  to  the  finer  development  of 
the  school  machine,  which  is  certainly  a  result  to  be 
carefully  avoided.  Very  frequently  a  single  half  grade 
placed  in  a  school  expands  itself  into  a  full-year  grade. 
President  Eliot  says:  "  Of  late  years  many  experiments 
have  been  made  in  semi-annual  promotions  and  other 
means  of  hurrying  forward  the  brighter  children.  The 
aim  of  these  experiments  is  laudable,  but  statistics  sug- 
gest a  doubt  whether  semi-annual  promotions  really 
promote  and  whether  they  do  not  disturb  to  an  inex- 
pedient degree  the  orderly  progress  of  the  school  work." 

Again,  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  individual 
plan  is  its  laboratory  nature.  The  teacher  is  not  the 
hearer  of  lessons,  but  the  associate,  the  inspirer  of  the 
children,  and  their  director  in  the  performance  of  work. 
There  are  many  other  essential  differences.  In  the 
country  school  the  method  of  work  was  a  good  thing 
as  far  as  it  went;  but  it  lacked  the  superior  teacher, 


258  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  better  equipment  and  facilities  for  laboratory  effort. 
The  old  New  England  Academy,  which  was  another 
form  of  the  ungraded  school,  was  an  institution  of  high 
merit  and  only  disappeared  because  the  graded  school 
was  a  free  institution,  supported  by  so  much  available 
money  as  to  dwarf  its  less  successful  competitor. 

THE  VILLAGE  SCHOOL. 

The  methods  which  have  been  presented  would  apply 
not  only  to  the  work  of  the  larger  high  schools,  but  also 
admirably  to  that  of  the  smaller  or  village  high  school. 
In  the  village  high  school  all  the  work  must  be  done 
by  one  or  two  teachers.  The  classes  ordinarily  are 
many,  some  being  very  large  and  others  quite  small. 
Sometimes  there  are  only  three  or  four  pupils  in  a  cer- 
tain class.  The  individual  method  has  much  to  offer 
here.  The  day  can  still  be  divided  into  longer  de- 
partment periods,  with  all  the  work  of  several  classes 
conducted  approximately  simultaneously.  By  this  plan 
it  is  possible  to  apportion  the  school  time  to  working 
groups  of  very  nearly  the  same  size,  thus  giving  the 
pupils,  who  would  otherwise  be  in  very  small  classes 
to  be  heard  at  unfavourable  times,  approximately  the 
same  time  as  others.  The  smaller  high  schools  and 
academies  have  always  had  more  individual  instruction, 
and  consequently  they  have  sent  proportionately  more 
candidates  to  the  college. 

This  same  possibility  of  equalization  of  numbers 
applies  also  to  the  smaller  school  system,  or  to  the 
smaller  district  building,  where  ordinarily  the  lower 
grades  or  classes  are  very  large  but  the  higher  classes 
very  small.  With  the  individual,  and  not  the  class,  the 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.        259 

unit  in  instruction,  grade  intervals  disappear,  and  the 
burden  of  work  to  the  teachers  and  the  opportunities 
to  the  pupils  may  be  more  equitably  distributed. 

THE  RURAL  SCHOOL. 

The  ungraded  schools  have  always  had  much  indi- 
vidual opportunity.  The  teacher  has  been  unable  to 
help  the  pupils  very  much,  and  hence  the  pupils  have 
learned  to  help  themselves.  Each  pupil  has  advanced 
pretty  much  as  fast  as  he  could,  so  that  the  country  boys 
coming  to  the  city  school  must,  to  the  chagrin  of  the 
city  superintendent,  usually  be  placed  in  higher  classes 
than  the  city  pupils  of  the  same  age  who  have  been  so 
comfortably  coddled  under  the  graded  system.  Then, 
there  has  been  much  advantage  to  the  younger  pupils 
in  the  higher  views  they  have  caught  incidentally  from 
the  instruction  of  the  older  pupils.  If  the  country 
school  had  had  the  same  money  to  put  in  the  teacher 
and  the  equipment  it  would  have  shown  still  better  re- 
turns. The  greatest  difficulty  in  the  rural  school  lies, 
not  in  the  wide  differentiation  of  pupils,  but  in  the  frag- 
mentary division  of  the  programme.  Ordinarily  the 
teacher  becomes  more  of  a  train  despatcher  than  a 
hearer  of  lessons.  Great  economy  would  result  if  this 
school  would  divide  up  its  time  largely  into  laboratory 
hours  and  have  all  work  of  a  given  character  in  opera- 
tion at  that  time.  This  would  give  the  desirable 
"psychological  wave,"  mentioned  by  Superintendent 
Bliss.  The  teacher  would  not  then  be  giving  one-tenth 
of  her  energy  to  the  reciting  pupils,  and  nine-tenths  to 
maintaining  order.  She  would  be  in  the  midst  of  active 
workers,  fired  by  a  common  impulse  and  working  most  of 


260  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  time  through  a  period  of  favourable  quiet.  General 
explanations  here  and  there,  of  interest  to  all  grades  of 
workers,  would  lift  the  younger  pupils  far  more  than 
might  be  thought.* 

THE  EVENING  SCHOOL. 

How  about  the  evening -school  instruction?  Has  it 
not  been  more  largely  individual? 

Undoubtedly  it  has  been  more  individual.  It  is 
very  possible  much  of  my  own  convictions  in  regard  to 
individual  training  has  been  suggested  by  a  large  ex- 
perience with  several  thousand  students  in  evening- 
school  instruction.  It  has  been  to  me  a  noticeable  fact 
that  an  evening  school  is  very  apt  to  go  to  pieces  when 
taught  by  teachers  trained  for  graded-school  work;  and 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  most  successful  evening-school 
teachers  are  those  who  have  touched  the  graded  ma- 
chine very  little.  These  older  students,  coming  for  op- 
portunity only,  will  not  waste  time  in  educational  work 
that  does  not  fit  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  children 
in  the  day  school,  forced  to  attend  by  compulsory  con- 
trol, can  not  escape;  but  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve the  differentiation  of  working  ability  is  just  as 
pronounced. 

THE  NORMAL  SCHOOL. 

If  these  principles  are  at  all  applicable  to  the  work 
of  the  graded  school,  they  must  be  taught  and  prac- 

*  The  writer  for  two  years  taught  an  ungraded  school  of  one 
hundred  and  ten  pupils  of  all  sizes,  ages,  and  advancements,  with- 
out assistance  and  in  a  single  room,  and  therefore  knows  some- 
thing of  this  subject. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

tised  by  the  normal  schools.  Many  normal  schools  arc 
already  doing  this.  In  Col.  F.  W.  Parker's  magnifi- 
cent new  school,  the  Chicago  Institute,  as  his  announce- 
ment says,  "  the  individual  is  the  unit."  The  same 
thing  is  true  of  the  Teachers'  College  in  New  York. 

In  the  Idaho  State  Normal  under  President  Geo.  E. 
Knepper  there  is  no  classification  of  students  until 
they  reach  the  graduating  year.  Each  student  is  en- 
tered where  he  can  get  the  most  to  himself,  and  pur- 
sues his  work  in  a  community  of  workers,  all  busy  in 
that  which  is  best  for  each  individually.  There  is  no 
class  feeling  and  no  unnatural  rivalry;  but  there  is  a 
unity  of  purpose  and  a  loyalty  to  the  school  perhaps 
surpassed  by  no  other  normal  school  of  the  country. 

In  a  large  way  the  same  principle  has  been  well 
exemplified  in  the  policy  of  Colonel  Parker,  who  has 
been  wont  to  say,  "  Every  school,  no  matter  how  un- 
graded it  may  be,  is  always  capable  of  being  divided  into 
two  great  classes — those  who  must  be  helped,  and  those 
who  can  help  themselves."  Indeed,  this  rule  is  almost 
sufficient  for  the  classification  of  any  body  of  workers. 
The  Colorado  State  Normal  School  has  been  a  strong 
promoter  of  the  doctrine  that  the  school  must  be  for  the 
individual.  The  principal  of  the  State  Normal  School 
at  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  the  principal  of  the  State  Nor- 
mal School  at  "Westfield,  Mass.,  have  introduced  many 
happy  expedients  for  the  better  culture  of  individuality. 

A  new.  teacher,  once  coming  to  the  Worcester  Nor- 
mal School,  inquired  very  anxiously  concerning  the 
course  of  study,  and  for  directions  as  to  what  she  should 
do  with  the  children.  "  Oh,  do  what  you  find  to  be  the 
best,"  replied  Principal  Russell.  "But  what  shall  I 


262  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

give  the  children  to  do?"  anxiously  inquired  the 
teacher.  "  Oh,  give  them  anything ;  the  chances  are  you 
will  give  them  too  much."  Says  Principal  Kussell, 
"  When  a  child  wishes  to  stand  up  or  to  sit  down,  either 
is  his  privilege.  If  he  wants  to  leave  the  room,  that  is 
none  of  the  teacher's  affairs."  Even  the  furniture  in 
the  rooms  in  this  normal  school  is  of  sufficient  variety 
to  guarantee  to  the  child  very  much  his  own  choice  of 
position;  and  it  can  be  inferred  that  the  adaptation  in 
the  work  of  the  school  is  equally  felicitous. 

THE  COLLEGE. 

It  is  probable  that  there  is  no  one  stage  of  modern 
instruction  where  the  spirit  of  reform  makes  such  slow 
progress  as  in  the  college.  In  almost  every  college  the 
students  in  recitation  still  face  the  light,  from  which  the 
instructor  gets  almost  sole  benefit.  The  best  working 
period,  the  very  heart  of  the  day,  is  entirely  consumed 
by  the  dead  recitation  exercise.  This  period  is,  to  a 
large  extent,  worse  than  wasted.  The  student  sits  pas- 
sively on  a  hard  seat  for  four  long  and  usually  tedious 
hours,  either  doing  nothing  or  listlessly  trying  to  go 
through  the  lifeless  recitation;  and  the  result  is  often 
a  twisted  spine  from  the  long-continued  habit  of  sup- 
porting the  body  upon  the  writing  arm.  This  time 
is  full  of  potentiality  for  effective  work  by  the  more 
active  method.  In  most  colleges  the  reciting  classes 
are  so  large  that  the  circuit  of  the  class  can  not  be 
made  more  than  once  per  day,  and  frequently  not  so 
often.  Consequently,  after  being  called  on  once,  the 
student  has  pretty  good  reason  to  believe  that  he  need 
not  pay  very  good  attention  during  the  rest  of  the 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       263 

recitation;  or,  if  called  on  to  recite  to-day,  the  tempta- 
tion is  strong  to  run,  without  preparation,  the  risk  of  be- 
ing called  upon  to-morrow.  Why  do  not  the  college 
people  realize  this  waste  of  precious  time;  that  it  is 
active  study  that  makes  the  student,  and  not  passive 
waiting  through  long  hours  of  unfruitful  torture, 
wherein  the  premium  is  liberal  for  dishonesty  and  defec- 
tive work?  It  is  strange  that  the  more  active  method  of 
the  university  above,  and  the  growing  tendency  in  the 
same  direction  from  below,  do  not  rapidly  bridge  this 
chasm  in  scientific  education.  The  college  has  much  to 
learn  from  the  better  methods  of  the  lower-grade  school. 

Says  the  president  of  Moore's  Hill  College,  Indiana: 
"  We  do  not  claim  the  individual  plan  will  level  all  the 
mountains,  nor  make  all  the  crooked  places  straight. 
We'  do  believe,  however,  that  if  this  personal  work  were 
commenced  in  the  primary  departments,  carried  through 
the  grades  and  into  the  colleges,  it  would  revolutionize 
our  public-school  system,  put  new  life  and  vigour  into 
our  colleges,  and  inspire  thousands  of  young  people,  who 
now  drop  out  of  the  ranks,  to  go  on  and  complete  the 
work." 

A  college  professor  who  once  introduced  individual 
teaching  and  opportunity  into  his  classes  reported  that 
he  was  compelled  to  go  back  to  the  class  method  because 
the  students  accomplished  so  much  more  work  under 
the  new  plan  that  he  could  not  find  time  to  hear  them 
recite.  Poor  man !  When  would  he  learn  that  the  de- 
tailed recitation  is  a  non-essential,  and  that  the  most  he 
can  give  the  enterprising  student  is  association  and  in- 
spiring direction  with  helpful  criticism  at  points  of 

fundamental  importance  ? 
19 


264  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

THE  UNIVERSITY. 

Thomas  Jefferson  was  the  father  of  the  elective  sys- 
tem in  America.  His  ideal  university,  crystallized  later 
in  the  founding  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  called  for 
an  abolition  of  the  prescribed  curriculum  for  all  stu- 
dents, and  consequently  for  the  overthrow  of  the  class 
system;  the  introduction  of  specialization;  the  uncon- 
trolled choice  of  studies  and  lectures  upon  the  part  of 
the  student;  and  the  reduction  of  requirement  and  dis- 
cipline to  a  minimum. 

Originally  the  University  of  Virginia  consisted  of 
eight  separate  schools,  afterward  increased  to  nineteen. 
Of  these,  a  student  entered  three.  If  studying  for  a 
titled  degree,  he  was  required  to  take  a  group  of  schools 
answering  to  the  nature  of  the  degree  sought;  if  not,  he 
elected  any  combination  he  wished.  Each  school  deter- 
mined its  own  graduation;  and  each  offered  the  degree 
termed  "  Graduate."  That  is,  a  diploma  read,  "  A 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Virginia  in  Latin"  (or 
other  subject);  but  such  degrees  were  not  titled  degrees. 
No  specified  training  was  required  for  admission,  but  the 
student  was  expected  to  do  the  work.  There  was  no 
time  limit,  and  no  annual  promotion  from  class  to  class. 
The  work  of  the  student  embraced  two  elements — asso- 
ciate work,  performed  largely  in  the  class;  and  much 
extra  personal  work.  In  each  department  a  certain 
ultimate  minimum  was  required  for  all;  but  the  time 
of  accomplishment  was  purely  individual.  As  the  stu- 
dent proceeded  he  was  granted  his  separate  graduate 
degrees.  When  accredited  with  the  requisite  number 
of  graduate  degrees,  his  titled  degree  was  declared. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       265 

There  was  no  marking  system.  Eesponsibility  belonged 
to  the  student.  Every  one  was  accredited  a  gentleman ; 
when  he  gave  evidence  that  he  was  not,  he  was  retired. 
Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  elective  system  in  the 
universities  and  schools  of  America. 

President  Eliot,  in  his  great  work  at  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, has  given  the  best  of  his  life  to  the  development 
of  the  elective  system  and  to  its  adaptation  to  the  essen- 
tial aims  of  the  university,  the  college,  and  the  second- 
ary and  elementary  schools.  At  Harvard  the  individ- 
ual student  finds  almost  any  study  or  combination  of 
studies  sanctioned  by  the  needs  of  modern  life.  It  is 
said  that  it  would  take  a  single  individual  between 
seventy  and  eighty  years  to  go  through  the  courses  now 
offered  at  Harvard  College,  without  counting  the  more 
advanced  courses.  The  work  is  essentially  laboratory. 
The  student  has  choice  of  studies,  great  individual 
attention,  personal  association  with  strong  men,  and 
capable  leadership. 

Says  President  Eliot,  in  a  magnificent  article  on 
Liberty  in  Education :  *  ' '  A  university  of  liberal  arts 
and  sciences  must  give  the  student  three  things: 

"  1.  Freedom  in  choice  of  studies. 

"  2.  Opportunity  to  win  academic  distinction  in  sin- 
gle studies  or  special  lines  of  study. 

"3.  A  discipline  which  distinctly  imposes  on  each 
individual  the  responsibility  of  forming  his  own  habits 
and  guiding  his  own  conduct." 

The  distinguished  success  of  Harvard  University 
and  its  great  moulding  influence  on  other  institutions, 

*  Eliot's  Educational  Reform,  p.  125. 


266  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

university,  college,  secondary  and  elementary,  are 
monumental  evidences  of  the  intrinsic  worth  of  Presi- 
dent Eliot's  life  doctrine. 

Ten  years  ago,  on  the  great  Stanford  estate,  was 
opened  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University,  a  monu- 
ment built  by  Leland  Stanford  and  Jane  Lathrop  Stan- 
ford, to  the  memory  of  their  son  Leland,  who  is  said  to 
have  conceived  the  idea  of  the  university.  The  keynote 
of  the  entire  university  is  well  sounded  in  President 
Jordan's  fundamental  doctrine  of  Opportunity  to  the 
Common  Man.  Any  person  of  honest  desire  for  higher 
training  will  here  find  the  university's  doors  open  to 
him.  He  is  freely  entered,  but  he  must  establish  his 
right  to  remain.  Personal  association  and  sympathetic 
direction  are  cardinal  principles  in  the  university's 
policy.  Even  the  president  plays  ball  on  the  campus; 
and,  in  the  laboratories,  professors  and  students  work 
hand  in  hand.  There  is  probably  no  institution  of 
higher  learning  in  America,  governed  with  so  little 
red-tape;  and  yet  there  is  probably  none  other  where 
the  feeling  of  personal  loyalty  and  responsibility  is  so 
great.  The  sun  shines  brightly  on  the  Stanford  Quad- 
rangle. 

Says  Earl  Barnes  of  the  work  at  Stanford:  *  "  Sub- 
jects are  not  grouped  in  classes  and  no  courses  of  study 
are  laid  out.  Throughout  the  period  of  four  years  the 
work  is  elective,  and  students  select  the  work  best  fitted 
to  their  individual  needs.  There  is  but  one  restriction 
on  the  freedom  of  choice :  each  student  must  devote 
one  hour  a  day  for  the  four  years  to  some  one  line  of 

*  Educational  Review,  vol.  vi,  p.  360. 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       267 

work.  Tims  each  student  has  one  major  subject,  and 
one-third  of  his  time  or  more  for  the  four  years  is  given 
to  that  subject.  The  professor  in  charge  of  a  student's 
major  subject  is  supposed  to  be  a  guide,  counsellor,  and 
friend  to  the  student;  and  his  advice  as  to  the  best 
lines  of  study  to  pursue  has  a  large  influence  with  the 
student.  .  .  .  Students  who  are  at  least  twenty  years 
old  may  be  received  without  formal  examination  as 
special  students,  if  prepared  to  do  the  work  they  wish 
to  take  up.  They  are  not  candidates  for  degrees,  but 
have  all  the  advantages  for  study  offered  by  the  uni- 
versity." 

The  University  of  Chicago  also  aims  at  the  conserva- 
tion of  the  interests  of  the  individual.  In  exposition  of 
this  ideal  President  Harper  has  said:  * 

"  First  of  all,  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  most  fundamental 
of  all,  is  the  principle  of  individualism — a  principle  ca- 
pable of  application  alike  to  students,  instructors,  and 
institutions.  Every  man  born  into  the  world  comes 
into  it  with  the  limitations  of  his  work  clearly  denned 
by  Nature.  The  man  who  succeeds  in  life  is  simply  the 
man  who  is  fortunate  enough  to  discover  the  thing 
Nature  intended  him  to  do.  In  some  cases  Nature  has 
seen  fit  to  indicate  early  and  definitely  the  line  of  work 
in  which  success  may  be  attained.  In  others  the  dis- 
covery is  made,  if  at  all,  late  in  life.  In  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  body  and  mind  each  man  or 
woman  is  to  be  treated  as  if  he  or  she  were  the  one 
person  in  existence.  The  individual,  not  the  mass,  is 
to  be  cared  for.  From  the  beginning  the  student  should 

*  Address  at  Atlanta  Educational  Congress  on  Some  Phases  of 
State  and  Non-State  Higher  Education. 


268  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

receive  such  treatment  as  will  enable  those  who  are 
watching  his  development  to  learn  what  he  can  do  only 
with  difficulty.  But  this  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the  be- 
ginning ;  it  should  be  continued  to  the  very  end  of  what 
would  be  called  the  preliminary  period,  a  period  which 
in  the  case  of  every  individual  continues  until  the  clear- 
est evidence  has  been  secured  of  the  discovery  of  the 
principal  work  which  the  individual  can  do  to  advan- 
tage. When  once  the  discovery  has  been  made,  with 
certain  qualifications,,  the  pupil  should  be  allowed  to 
devote  himself  uninterruptedly  to  that  for  which,  as 
experiment  has  shown,  Nature  fitted  him.  The  next 
aim  will  be  to  develop  those  functions  which  are  ca- 
pable of  development.  It  will  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  culture  should  be  as  broad  as  possible;  but  it  is 
true  that  the  possible  fields  of  mental  culture  are  very 
numerous  and  that,  after  all,  no  man,  however  broadly 
cultivated,  comes  into  contact  with  many  of  these  fields. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  a  large  part  of  our  educa- 
tional work  fails  utterly  of  accomplishing  the  thing  in 
view.  Men  pass  through  all  the  grades  of  primary  and 
secondary  work,  enter  college  and  do  university  work, 
and  yet  are  reckoned  by  the  world  at  large,  and  even 
by  those  most  intimately  associated  with  them,  as  fail- 
ures. And  so  far  as  adding  anything  to  the  life  of 
themselves  or  others,  they  are  failures.  Why  is  this  so  ? 
Because  the  idea  has  prevailed  so  extensively  that  men 
might  be  educated  en  masse-,  that  one  after  another 
they  might  be  ground  through  the  curriculum  of  study 
without  reference  to  special  tastes  and  predilections. 
A  class  of  a  hundred  men  enters  college,  no  two  of  them 
alike  in  equipment,  natural  taste,  mental  aptitude,  or 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION.       269 

intellectual  ability,  and  yet  they  have  been  required  to 
take  the  same  studies,  within  the  same  number  of  hours, 
in  the  same  way  and  with  a  sameness  throughout  that 
makes  college  life  for  the  most  of  them  a  distasteful 
thing  and  an  injury.  I  stand  ready  to  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility for  the  statement  that  many  men  are  in- 
jured by  college  training,  and  that  the  cause  of  the 
injury  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  has  been  the  inflexible 
cast-iron  routine  of  the  college  curriculum,  which,  let 
us  congratulate  ourselves,  is  fast  becoming  a  thing  of 
the  past.  Less  harm  has  been  done  than  would  other- 
wise have  been  the  case  because,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
only  those  men  of  a  certain  disposition  in  days  past 
have  received  an  education.  A  great  change  is  taking 
place  among  us  to-day.  Men  of  different  types  of  mind, 
men  who  have  no  idea  of  becoming  scholars,  men  who 
will  be  artists,  mechanics,  business  men,  as  well  as  those 
who  have  in  mind  the  ministry  or  the  law,  may  receive 
an  education  adapted  to  their  needs  and  capabilities. 
That  the  doctrine  of  individualism  is  beginning  to  be 
respected  is  evident  from  the  establishment  of  scientific 
schools,  technological  schools,  and  from  the  high  posi- 
tion which  these  schools  now  occupy  side  by  side  with 
the  college,  a  position  to  which  they  could  not  lay  claim 
even  so  short  a  time  as  ten  years  ago.  But  the  same 
sin,  for  it  is  a  sin  against  God  as  against  man,  is  still 
committed  in  most  of  our  institutions,  even  in  those 
to  which  reference  has  just  been  made.  The  individual 
is  forgotten  in  the  mass.  In  how  many  colleges  is  it 
the  custom  to  take,  as  it  were,  a  diagnosis  of  the  mental 
constitution  of  each  student  similar  to  that  which  the 
physician  takes  of  the  body?  It  is  not  unusual  in 


270  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

these  days  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  depart- 
ment of  physical  culture  to  have  each  man  examined, 
the  weak  points  of  his  body  pointed  out  and  the  prin- 
cipal exercises  indicated  which  will  help  him.  Is  such 
a  thing  done  for  the  mental  constitution  ?  The  college 
methods  of  the  past  have  compelled  men  to  fail,  and 
in  many  cases  it  is  more  or  less  accidental  that  a  man 
has  received  real  and  genuine  help  in  his  development. 
Why  is  it  that  so  many  men  achieve  marked  success  in 
life,  in  their  profession,  and  in  every  line  of  business, 
who  have  never  seen  the  inside  of  college  halls?  Be- 
cause contact  with  men  does  for  them  what  technical 
education  is  supposed  to  do  for  those  who  avail  them- 
selves of  its  advantages.  The  feeling  against  higher 
education  which  has  existed  is  not  without  some  justi- 
fication. A  radical  change  is  demanded;  a  change 
which  shall  shake  to  the  foundations  the  educational 
structures  that  have  been  erected." 

But  the  highest  type  of  university  in  America  is 
found  in  Clark  University.  Here  the  work  is  devoted 
entirely  to  higher  research ;  there  are  no  college  depart- 
ments. The  work  is  purely  post-graduate.  The  stu- 
dent comes  with  some  original  line  of  research  which  he 
wishes  to  develop.  For  three  years  he  devotes  himself 
to  this  single  purpose.  In  the  prosecution  of  his  work 
he  commands  for  his  help  the  president,  the  professors, 
the  university's  equipment,  and  the  great  library. 
There  is  no  definite  dividing  line  between  the  professors 
and  the  student,  but  the  most  intimate  association. 
The  professors  rely  on  the  discoveries  of  the  students, 
while  the  latter  find  in  the  former  their  most  helpful 
friends.  There  are  no  requirements,  but  everything  is 


DIFFERENT  GRADES  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

open.  The  student  commands  the  resources  of  the  .uni- 
versity as  much  as  do  the  professors.  Each  one  has 
his  own  place  to  work,  and  is  his  own  librarian  and 
demonstrator.  The  great  laboratories  are  his  own.  As 
his  work  progresses  he  has  the  advantage  of  whatever 
criticism  he  wishes  to  summon.  On  Monday  evenings 
the  students  gather  at  the  president's  home  for  seminar 
presentation  and  discussion,  at  which  time  and  place 
each  in  turn  presents,  for  the  criticism  and  discussion 
of  his  fellows,  his  discoveries  and  the  development  of 
his  work  to  that  particular  stage.  Here  is  association, 
inspiration,  initiative,  and  unlimited  opportunity.  The 
work  at  Clark  University  is  absolutely  individual. 

THE  UNITY  OF  SCIENTIFIC  INSTRUCTION. 

From  this  discussion  of  the  subject  it  should  now 
be  evident  that  the  principles  of  individual  training 
apply,  with  proper  adaptation  and  adjustment,  to  every 
grade  and  stage  of  educational  work. 

They  perhaps  can  not  be  applied  in  the  same  ways 
to  all  stages  and  departments  of  work,  but  still  their 
fundamental  bearing  is  essentially  the  same.  There 
are  not  only  the  varying  characteristics  of  pupils  that 
must  be  conserved,  but  also  the  individualities  of 
grades,  of  subjects,  of  communities,  of  equipment,  and 
of  instructors.  The  work  calls  for  great  versatility,  for 
endless  adaptation,  and  for  profoundest  study;  but  its 
cultural  products  will  respond  proportionately. 

President  Eliot  has  well  summed  up  the  whole  argu- 
ment in  saying,*  "  It  is  hard  to  say  at  what  stage  of 

*  Eliot's  Unity  of  Educational  Reform.  Educational  Review, 
October,  1894. 


2?2  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

/ 

education,  from  the  primary  grade  to  the  final  univer- 
sity grade,  the  individualization  of  instruction  is  most 
important.  The  truth  is  that  the  principle  applies  with 
equal  force  all  along  the  line.  Tor  the  university  presi- 
dent, the  school  superintendent,  and  the  kindergartner 
alike,  it  should  be  the  steady  aim  and  central  principle 
of  educational  policy;  and  whoever  understands  the 
principle  and  its  applications  in  one  grade  understands 
them  for  all." 


CHAPTER   XI. 


SCHOOL. 

THE  child  has  an  inalienable  right  *  to  be  a  child; 
to  be  understood  and  appreciated;  to  joyous  play,  free- 
dom in  movements,  adequate  sleep,  nourishing  food, 
companionable  pets  and,  within  certain  limits,  self- 
chosen  friends;  to  an  acquaintance  with  Nature;  to 
capable  leadership;  and  to  opportunity  for  initiative 
and  unrestricted  progress. 

Happy  is  the  child  who  spends  his  infant  years  in 
the  loving,  helpful  companionship  of  parents  who  live 
for  their  children.  Says  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  "  The 
mother's  heart  is  the  child's  school-room; "  Shake- 
speare, "  To  you  your  father  should  be  as  a  god  " ;  For- 
bush,  "  At  the  best  the  God  of  one's  childhood  is  only 
a  great  man,  and  it  is  a  solemnizing  fact  that  he  often 
bears  the  face  and  nature  of  the  child's  own  earthly 
father";  Coleridge,  "A  mother  is  the  holiest  thing 
alive " ;  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin,  "  Her  life  may  be  a 
cipher,  but  when  the  child  comes,  God  writes  a  figure 
before  it  and  gives  it  value."  Happy  is  the  child  in  such 

*  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin's  Children's  Rights;  also,  Charles  W. 
Warner's  Being  a  Boy;  A.  F.  Chamberlain's  The  Child. 

273 


274  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

a  home,  a  substitute  for  which  the  school  can  never 
be;  and  thrice  happy  he  who,  all  through  the  growing 
days  from  infancy  to  manhood,  has  the  loving  presence 
and  association  of  those  who  see  in  what  they  may  do 
for  their  children  the  completeness  of  a  well-rounded 
life — the  best  hope  of  immortality. 

To  the  child  and  the  man  the  school-room  door 
should  be  always  open.  The  requirement  that  any  given 
stage  in  education  must  be  entered  on  a  given  day,  or 
at  a  given  time,  is  unnatural  and  unnecessary.  Every 
day  should  be  a  beginning  day,  and  never  in  the  life  of 
a  child  should  such  an  abnormal  thing  as  non-promo- 
tion appear. 

The  basis  of  gradation  must  be  the  placing  of  the 
child  where  he  can  get  the  greatest  good  to  himself — 
where  he  can  be  the  happiest.  If  the  child  is  of  over- 
age, he  should  never  be  degraded  by  being  classified 
with  children  much  smaller,  but  should  be  placed  more 
nearly  with  those  of  the  same  age  and  general  physical 
condition,  where,  by  individual  attention  from  the 
teacher  and  his  own  absorption  of  higher  influences 
around  him,  he  will  be  lifted  more  rapidly  to  his  proper 
place. 

If  the  child  from  necessity  enters  school  late,  or 
if  he  must  be  absent  a  day  or  a  week,  a  month  or  a 
term,  his  loss  should  never  be  disproportionate.  He 
has  a  right  to  expect  that  the  school  shall  fit  his  in- 
dividual needs,  associate  him  with  those  who  can  help 
him  most,  and  permit  him  to  advance  as  naturally  as 
grow  the  trees  of  the  forest.  There  should  be  no  time 
element.  He  should  be  permitted  to  accomplish  as  he 
may  be  individually  capable. 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  275 

His  motives  must  arise  from  the  recognition  that 
every  heart  contains  a  spark  of  divinity ;  from  opportu- 
nity to  place  his  life  in  harmony  with  beauty  and  law ; 
from  personal  choice  of  the  right  over  the  wrong,  and 
to  do  work  because  of  its  innate  worth  and  contribution 
to  the  happiness  of  others.  The  child  must  have  the 
exercise  of  free  will;  but  he  is  also  entitled  to  sugges- 
tion and  protection.  Not  the  result  but  the  endeavour 
deserves  commendation ;  for  as  Kuskin  says,  "  It  is  the 
effort  that  deserves  praise,  not  the  success.  Nor  is 
it  a  question  for  any  student  whether  he  is  cleverer 
than  others  or  duller,  but  whether  he  has  done  the  best 
he  could  with  the  gifts  he  had."  It  is  customary  to  begin 
the  day  in  most  schools  with  a  morning  prayer.  It 
would  be  equally  appropriate  to  close  the  day  with  a 
benediction — at  least  with  the  benedicting  approval  of 
the  teacher,  expressed  not  in  per  cents  or  other  discrim- 
inating degrees,  but  in  warm-hearted  and  sunshiny  en- 
couragement to  each  and  every  child.  If  he  can  not  be 
reached  by  such  motives,  either  the  child  or  the  teacher 
is  a  defective,  and  a  consultation  of  experts  is  in  order. 

With  such  opportunity  for  placement  and  with  such 
actuating  motive  the  child  takes  up  the  work  of  the 
school.  Let  us  now  trace  his  career  through  the  school. 

In  the  Play  School  the  child  finds  his  opportunity 
for  rapid  growth,  for  drinking  in  from  and  looking  at 
Nature,  and  for  freedom  in  movements.  The  grouping 
of  children  is  entirely  according  to  that  which  interests 
them  most.  In  contact  with  the  forest,  with  the  school 
gardens,  with  pets  fostered  by  his  care,  with  limpid 
stream,  playing  fountain,  changing  hillside,  and  the 
stars  of  night,  the  child  finds  in  Nature  his  principal 


276  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

subject-matter.  By  imitation  and  inspired  expression 
he  learns  much  of  his  mother  language;  and  there  is 
no  objection  to  natural  acquaintance  with  a  foreign 
tongue.  To  him  the  story-teller  opens  up  a  wealth  of 
myth-lore,  which  is  the  spirit  of  a  world  of  facts  ex- 
pressed in  fruitful  form.  Santa  Glaus  is  a  living  real- 
ity, for  it  personifies  the  heights  and  depths  and 
breadths  of  altruism.  Without  Santa  Glaus  the  child 
is  poverty-stricken  and  denied  one  of  the  largest  and 
noblest  conceptions  of  life  and  of  truth.  In  the  same 
way,  other  myths  are  pregnant  with  beauty,  history, 
personification,  comprehensiveness,  and  reality.  The 
child  learns  much  from  pictures  and  expresses  him- 
self in  language,  in  drawing  and  song  as  linguistic  exer- 
cises, and  in  constructive  building.  His  play  is  largely 
imitation  and  representation,  but  free  and  spontaneous. 
He  has  the  guidance  and  association  of  his  teacher,  who 
within  certain  limits  supplies  him  with  abundant  mate- 
rial for  expression  and,  under  suggestion,  keeps  the 
work  in  orderly  sequence.  His  movements  are  natural 
and  the  furniture  is  varied.  The  child  studies  things. 
There  are  no  technical  drills;  but  if  the  child  spon- 
taneously and  by  his  own  effort  comes  to  an  interpre- 
tation of  mystic  and  mechanical  forms,  there  is  no  ob- 
jection. The  fact  is  he  will  do  so  anyway,  in  an  ele- 
mentary manner,  to  a  large  degree.  Then  comes  the 
fruitful  time  for  alphabetic  training.  Its  recognition 
is  the  basis  of  transition  to  the  succeeding  school.  In 
all  his  work  he  gets  little  or  much  as  his  individual 
interests  may  demand. 

In  the  Elementary  or  Alphabetic  School,  as  budding 
faculties  may  manifest  themselves,  the  child  gets  his 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  277 

acquaintance  with  the  fundamental  alphabets  of  learn- 
ing and  with  the  working  tools  on  which  his  subsequent 
work  is  largely  dependent.  Up  through  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  beauty  of  harmony  he  is  placing  himself 
more  and  more  under  control,  but  under  circumstances 
of  great  freedom.  In  Nature  study  he  is  learning  the 
delights  of  contributing  to  the  world's  wealth  through 
his  own  growing  of  the  best  trees,  vegetables,  and 
flowers;  in  the  domestication  of  animals,  ordinarily 
wild,  and  in  contemplation  of  Nature  in  her  own 
fields.  He  begins  to  read,  and  is  given  certain  phono- 
grams which  enable  him  to  be  immediately  at  home  in 
the  recognition  of  new  words.  He  is  also  given  consid- 
erable opportunity  for  interpretative  entertainment  be- 
fore the  entire  school.  He  still  draws  as  a  language 
exercise,  because  he  can  tell  so  much  more  in  drawing 
than  in  any  other  way ;  but  writing,  as  his  own  exercise 
and  as  a  convenient  approximation  of  print,  now  be- 
comes his  means  of  more  definite  record.  His  oral  lan- 
guage, by  added  experience,  takes  on  its  fuller  expres- 
sion; and  as  the  result  of  comprehensive  concept,  he 
tells  all  he  can  in  written  communication.  By  the 
mother-tongue  method  he  rapidly  advances  in  versatile 
expression  in  French,  introduced  some  time  during  this 
period,  preferably  early.  Historical  narrative  now  tells 
much  of  the  lives  of  great  men;  and  choice  myth,  for 
culture  of  the  imagination,  still  holds  its  place.  Geo- 
metric forms  and  the  fundamental  combinations  and 
operations  of  numbers  are  well  taught.  The  tables  are 
largely  presented  by  ready-reference  charts,  by  the 
building  of  tables,  by  extended  applications,  and,  as  the 
child  gets  ready  for  the  short-cut,  by  storage  of  the 


278  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

memory  with  intelligent  forms.  Construction  enters 
largely  into  the  realm  of  toys  and  playthings  and  takes 
its  key  from  individual  interest.  Literary  gems  and 
music  are  taught  through  attractive  concert  exercises; 
and  play  is  free  and  spontaneous,  but  under  encourage- 
ment and  with  association.  The  period  is  one  of  grow- 
ing technical  drill  and  the  acquiring  of  skill.  The  chil- 
dren are  associated  in  flexible,  helpful  groups,  but  with 
no  limit  to  healthful  advancement  and  intelligent 
choice.  To  a  limited  extent  there  are  class  or  group 
exercises  in  technical  drill,  but  the  predominating  char- 
acteristic is  one  of  helpful  quiet.  Inspirational  and 
information  talks  and  class  exchanges  on  subjects  of 
general  value  are  always  in  order;  but  there  is  little 
of  the  formal  recitation.  There  is  also  no  mechanical 
comparison  of  results.  Each  child  is  protected  in  doing 
that  which  is  his  best.  The  programme  is  flexible ;  what 
can  not  be  well  done  to-day  is  left  until  to-morrow. 
The  moment  an  exercise  fails  in  interest  it  is  an  un- 
profitable exercise  and  is  thrown  aside  for  a  new  ap- 
proach at  another  time.  The  major  work  of  the  pupil 
in  this  school  is  under  a  single  teacher;  but  in  several 
subjects  the  work  is  departmental.  The  child  meets 
experts  only. 

The  Intermediate  or  All-Round  School  adapts  itself 
to  the  pupil  in  his  period  of  fullest  childhood.  In  it 
is  obtained  a  general  survey  of  the  related  fields  fun- 
damentally tributary  to  specialized  work.  The  child 
has  realized  his  place  in  a  harmonious  working  com- 
munity and  is  given  still  greater  opportunity  for  gen- 
eral helpfulness.  He  has  his  individual  interest  more 
actively  employed  in  his  study  of  Nature,  in  the  taming 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  2Y9 

of  wild  animals,  in  competitive  culture  of  best  products, 
and  in  prevention  of  pests;  but  he  also  becomes  an 
integral  part  of  humane  organizations  for  the  protec- 
tion of  birds,  frogs,  toads,  and  parks,  for  the  honouring 
of  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  for  the  growing  of  bird 
foods,  and  for  systematic  destruction  of  the  Iarva3  and 
eggs  of  mosquitoes,  beetles,  caterpillars,  moths,  grubs, 
scales,  and  other  injurious  life.  He  gains  an  elementary 
knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  world  and  the  means 
of  finding  details  when  he  wants  them.  His  language 
work  acquaints  him  with  polite  and  business  forms,  re- 
cords his  discoveries,  and  clothes  his  imaginative  crea- 
tions. French  is  continued  sufficiently  to  hold  his  pre- 
vious acquisitions  and  skill  with  moderate  advancement, 
but  German  is  now  added;  both  by  the  mother-tongue 
method.  History  is  represented  by  leading  facts  and 
characters,  with  wide  opportunity  for  ramifications  and 
collateral  study.  Both  history  and  geography  have  their 
hour  of  class  interchange,  with  every  encouragement  to 
contributions  from  a  wide  variety  of  sources.  Drawing 
is  still  a  means  of  expression  as  each  child  individually 
sees,  and  is  much  used  in  illustration.  It  also  plays  an 
important  part  in  inventive  design,  and  is  closely  re- 
lated to  the  pupil's  constructive  exercises.  These  latter 
begin  to  take  on  more  and  more  the  character  of  scien- 
tific apparatus,  mechanical  toys,  and  useful  construc- 
tion ;  sometimes  individual,  and  sometimes  co-operative 
with  distribution  of  labor.  The  useful  industries  in 
modelling,  farming,  carpentry,  sewing,  cooking,  and  de- 
signing follow  interest  and  choice.  Under  direction,  the 
child  reads  good  books  of  native  interest,  records  his 
generalizations  in  digest  forms,  writes  literature  of  his 
20 


280  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

own  creation,  of  which  he  becomes  author,  printer,  illus- 
trator, and  binder.  He  also  grounds  himself  more  and 
more  in  the  fundamental  arithmetical  processes  and 
gains  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  geometry,  but 
in  both  of  these  studies  does  little  or  much  according 
to  leading  interest.  In  music  he  has  his  part  in  the 
general  exercise,  is  given  time  for  outside  training,  and 
is  encouraged  to  his  own  individual  creation.  He  plays 
usually  with  the  entire  school,  the  teacher  also  taking 
part;  and  with  his  set.  For  gymnastics  he  has  place 
in  general  drills  of  bright  character,  but  in  special  cases 
is  assigned  corrective  exercises  and  given  special  care. 
The  child  also  learns  to  swim. 

The  several  studies  are  grouped  around  four  or  five 
general  units.  The  work  is  departmental,  with  sec- 
tional responsibility.  The  programme,  as  far  as  the 
departmental  correlations  permit,  is  flexible.  No  one 
day  completes  the  whole  cycle  of  work;  no  two  days 
in  programme  are  necessarily  alike ;  but  a  week  of  work 
represents  a  fairly  equitable  apportionment  of  time. 
The  technical  work  is  all  done  in  the  respective  labora- 
tories. There  is  no  required  home  study;  but  there  is 
much  spontaneous  home  work  naturally  growing  out 
of  the  school  exercises. 

On  account  of  the  garden  work,  longer  play,  bath 
opportunity,  gymnasium,  and  shop  exercises,  the  hours 
are  longer;  but  the  time  is  full  of  intermissions.  The 
work  is  planned  so  that  an  individual  child  may  take  all 
the  work,  in  the  doing  of  which  he  may  take  his  own 
time;  or  he  may  omit  much  work  not  fitting  his  condi- 
tion or  bent.  Much  of  the  work  in  Nature  study,  read- 
ing, language,  writing,  literary  creation,  invention,  con- 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  281 

struction,  mathematics,  music,  and  gymnastics  is  indi- 
vidual; but  in  Nature  study,  construction  publication, 
music,  play,  and  gymnastics  he  has  co-operation;  and  in 
geography,  history,  current  events,  etc.,  he  has  his  semi- 
nar. There  is  no  objection  to  Latin,  if  taught  as  a  live 
language,  in  lieu  of  the  modern  languages;  but  with  in- 
ability to  do  both,  the  modern  languages  are  preferable. 

If  at  the  age  of  approximately  fourteen  in  boys  and 
thirteen  with  girls,  because  life  energies  are  centred 
in  absorbing  physical  changes,  there  comes  a  special 
need  of  school  relaxation,  then  at  this  age,  without  post- 
ponement, or  whenever  it  does  come,  the  school  should 
exempt  the  child  from  work  of  special  demand,  permit 
irregularity  in  hours,  and  favor  a  year,  should  cir- 
cumstances so  require,  of  entire  freedom  from  the 
school.  The  intermissions  in  the  programme,  the  ab- 
sence of  unnatural  incentive,  and  the  building  of  all 
work  on  the  play  instinct,  in  themselves  are  essential 
safeguards.  But  beyond  this  the  school  should  be  built 
so  as  to  permit  much  absence  without  work  to  be  made 
up  in  a  given  time,  and  with  opportunity  for  much 
work  to  be  omitted.  The  home  and  the  school  should 
be  faithful  protectors  during  this  time.  Relaxation  or 
diversion  of  the  child  from  insistent  work  should  be 
guaranteed,  but  should  be  unconscious  as  far  as  possible. 

Our  pupil  is  now  in  the  High  School.  He  has  a  gen- 
eral survey  of  the  geography  of  the  world,  loves  Nature 
and  good  books,  expresses  himself  well  in  English,  can 
understand  and  speak  French  and  German,  has  had 
his  ambition  stirred  by  historical  biography,  his  fancy 
by  myth  and  legend,  and  his  patriotism  by  the  story 
of  his  country,  can  perform  the  ordinary  arithmetical 


282  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

calculations  of  business  life,  can  design  and  create,  en- 
joys music  and  art,  knows  good  from  evil  in  his  physical 
life,  enters  heartily  into  play,  knows  how  to  handle 
himself  and  to  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  others, 
sleeps  well,  eats  well,  and  is  in  good  health.  The  na- 
tion has  a  right  to  expect  such  a  product  from  the  lower- 
grade  school. 

The  work  is  departmental.  The  student  has  his 
own  choice  of  studies  and  combinations  of  studies,  ex- 
cepting that  English  is  always  a  major.  In  his  choice 
he  has  the  wise  counsel  and  suggestion  of  his  teacher 
and  friend.  There  are  no  class  divisions,  because  there 
is  no  time  element;  and  pupils  are  bridging  the  cus- 
tomary intervals  in  every  conceivable  manner.  The 
school  works  by  a  general  programme  of  hourly  periods, 
subject  to  individual  modifications,  and  with  always 
one  or  more  free  periods  for  special  application.  The 
teacher,  books,  departmental  library,  apparatus,  and 
material  are  in  the  departmental  laboratory,  where  the 
teacher  is  always  approachable.  The  workers  usually 
enter  in  class  form,  determined  largely  by  the  general 
programme,  and  are  busy  on  some  study  or  investiga- 
tion of  common  interest;  but  there  is  nothing  to  pre- 
vent individuals  of  other  advancement  coming  at  the 
same  time,  for  there  is  no  general  recitation  to  disturb 
or  by  which  to  be  disturbed.  The  teacher  is  leader, 
associate  worker,  and  helper.  There  is  little  detective 
recitation;  occasionally  the  lecture;  often  the  seminar; 
always  the  individual  exercise.  In  science  the  pupil  is 
testing,  trying,  discovering,  tabulating,  generalizing;  in 
Latin,  or  perchance  Greek,  if  Greek  be  in  the  high 
school,  he  is  individually  progressing  and  qualifying;  in 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  283 

French  and  German  he  reads  as  fast  as  may  be  best,  but 
has  his  colloquial  and  interpretative  exercises  on  points 
of  common  interest;  in  grammar,  either  Latin  or  Eng- 
lish, much  can  be  done  by  the  class  method,  but  not  all; 
in  literature  and  history  the  pupil  masters  what  he  can, 
writes  his  own  digest  and  criticisms,  and  enjoys  all  the 
more  the  lecture  interpretation;  mathematics  lends  it- 
self unlimitedly  to  his  individual  accomplishment;  de- 
sign, creation,  and  composition  are  conservative  of  his 
individuality ;  music  and  art  are  profitable  only  as  they 
are  rich  in  personal  interest,  which  is  the  perfect  key 
to  the  interpretative  recital  or  lecture  and  organization 
into  orchestras,  musical  societies,  and  art  clubs;  and 
gymnastics  certainly  at  this  period  must  be  individual, 
with  correlation  of  play  for  team  and  federated  work. 
All  promotions  are  daily.  The  basis  is  the  single  piece 
of  work,  individually  and  satisfactorily  done.  This 
piece  of  work  becomes  an  integral  part  in  a  solid  ma- 
sonry. There  are  no  skips  in  the  work  made  by  absence 
or  vacations;  no  non-promotions  nor  lifeless  reviews. 
When  the  student  returns  another  day,  another  term, 
or  another  year,  his  work  that  far  is  well  done.  It  con- 
tains no  omitted  or  defective  parts.  He  begins  just 
where  he  left  off. 

The  student  is  not  interrupted  in  his  continuous 
work  by  irrelevant  recitations.  His  work  in  note-book 
or  verbal  translation  or  explanation  is  subject  at  any 
moment  to  criticism.  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should 
disguise  his  ignorance.  The  incentive  to  dishonesty  is 
wanting.  Given  association,  suggestion,  friendly  criti- 
cism, and  opportunity,  he  will  do  more  work  and  better 
work. 


284  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

The  student  is  capacitated  by  better  health,  better 
training,  and  better  motive.  He  feels  the  glow  of  per- 
sonal mastery,  creation  and  discovery,  realizes  his  re- 
sponsibility, is  happy  because  the  work  fits  him,  and  is 
strong  because  the  work  which  he  accomplishes  is  ab- 
solutely his  own.  Opportunity  for  choice  strengthens 
his  character ;  for  individual  promotion-saves  him  time ; 
for  free  relaxation  insures  his  health;  and  for  interest 
relates  his  work  to  definite  purpose.  Why  should  not 
such  a  unit  make  the  better  society  than  when  its  sev- 
eral parts  have  had  the  steps  of  their  reasoning  all 
mapped  out  by  their  teacher,  have  been  crammed  with 
information  with  little  opportunity  for  discovery, 
ponied  and  coddled  through  different  places  by  parents 
and  classmates,  actuated  for  a  reward  and  not  for 
truth  itself,  and  incapacitated  by  home  study  which 
is  desultory  and  ineffective  at  best?  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  students  seldom  find  time  for  attendance  on  an 
evening  lecture,  study  much  of  the  Sabbath  day,  are 
perfectly  at  sea  in  a  library,  and  graduate  from  the  high 
school  in  defective  health,  without  purpose  or  adjust- 
ment to  life?  There  is  no  comparison  between  the  re- 
sults of  the  two  schools. 

The  high-school  period  is  the  period  for  the  acquire- 
ment of  greater  skill  in  manipulation,  and  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  several  faculties  to  make  them  strong, 
self-reliant,  and  self-directive.  For  this  reason  the 
term  Gymnasium  is  far  better  than  that  of  High 
School,  for  the  former  expresses  the  function  perfectly. 
It  is  also  a  period  for  new  ambitions,  the  expenditure 
of  active  energy,  for  special  conservation,  and  for  strong 
convictions  and  debate.  The  individual  conservation 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  285 

of  work  lends  itself  effectively  to  community  govern- 
ment, to  contribution,  debate  and  co-operation. 

Our  discussion  has  now  reached  the  College,  but 
there  is  little  new  to  be  added.  Every  subject  of  the  col- 
lege and  the  university  has  been  anticipated  in  the  pri- 
mary school.  The  same  fundamental  principles  are  car- 
ried forward,  excepting,  perhaps,  the  college  capacitates 
all  the  more  for  altruistic  endeavour;  and  the  university, 
by  the  very  nature  of  its  province,  tends  a  little  more 
to  isolation.  There  is  still  the  same  cardinal  factor 
of  association  with  higher  personality,  the  same  oppor- 
tunity for  research,  patient  study,  culture,  and  discov- 
ery; the  same  rewards  that  make  investigation  worth 
pursuing,  truth  worth  possessing,  and  life  worth  living. 
This,  however,  must  be  added,  that  under  the  tremen- 
dous leverage  of  this  line  of  work,  all  along  from  the 
kindergarten  upward,  the  college  and  university  will  be 
lifted  into  a  realm  of  possibilities  little  comprehended 
in  the  enforced  policies  of  present-day  conditions. 

"  Do  you  know,"  remarks  some  faithful  teacher,  "  that 
you  are  making  teaching  a  very  difficult  vocation  ?  " 

I  certainly  am  not  trying  to  make  it  easy.  The 
best  things  in  life  are  really  the  most  difficult  things 
to  get.  But  on  the  other  hand,  these  principles  ought 
to  make  teaching  easy.  To  the  teacher,  thoroughly 
qualified  and  prepared  to  direct,  the  work  will  really 
become  more  enjoyable,  more  dependent  on  general 
preparation  and  less  on  detailed  preparation,  and  by 
utilizing  the  discoveries  of  the  children,  more  enriching 
to  the  teacher  personally. 

How  about  the  hours  the  older  pupils  will  be  in  the 
school?  Would  these  hours  be  more  or  less? 


286  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Preferably  they  would  be  more,  but  the  programme 
would  now  be  less  exacting.  All  the  school  work, 
excepting  certain  spontaneous  work,  would  now  be  done 
in  the  school.  The  school  laboratories  would  be  opened 
a  greater  number  of  hours,  but  all  pupils  would  not 
necessarily  be  there  all  the  time. 

Would  not  this  procedure  work  the  teachers  harder 
than  they  are  now  worked? 

Not  necessarily.  The  laboratories  being  open  longer 
hours  does  not  mean  that  every  teacher  should  be  there 
all  the  time.  With  the  departmental  rooms  properly 
grouped  they  would  be  under  capable  supervision  with- 
out a  teacher  constantly  in  every  room.  Pupils  natu- 
rally would  seek  the  room  when  the  teacher  was  there. 
Even  if  they  should  come  in  small  numbers  for  indi- 
vidual work,  pupils  trained  in  this  way  to  habits  of 
research  and  self-respect  are  perfectly  safe,  in  nearly  all 
rooms,  for  their  own  guidance  during  the  hour  of  the 
teacher's  absence. 

How  would  the  teacher  find  time  to  individually  con- 
duct all  the  work  of  so  many  different  workers? 

If  the  teacher  insists  on  conducting  the  work  by 
doing  herself  all  the  work  of  the  pupils,  and  by  hearing 
recitations  on  all  details,  she  will  not  have  time;  but 
if  she  arises  to  the  nobler  mission  of  directing  the  self- 
activities  of  many  workers,  with  here  and  there  the 
guidance  of  an  artist's  hand,  she  will  have  abundant 
time. 

What  is  the  basis  of  classification  of  pupils  under 
this  plan? 

There  are  no  fixed  and  arbitrary  classifications  of 
pupils.  The  aim  is  to  place  a  child  where  he  can  be 


THE  CHILD'S  OPPORTUNITY.  287 

the  happiest — that  is,  where  he  can  get  the  most  good 
to  himself,  and  in  turn  make  the  greatest  contribution 
to  others.  In  a  broad  general  way  it  may  be  said  that 
the  child  passes  from  the  play  school  to  the  alphabetic 
school  at  a  time  when  the  brain  has  approximately 
reached  its  maximum  growth,  and  energy  is  now  being 
centred  more  in  the  development  of  the  smaller  brain 
areas.  By  the  end  of  the  period  devoted  to  the  alpha- 
betic or  elementary  school  he  has  gained  considerable 
co-ordination  of  the  finer  muscles;  and  he  has  a  good 
working  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  processes  in 
reading,  writing,  numbers,  and  other  tool  acquisitions. 
He  can  gather  thought  and  working  data  from  the 
printed  page,  can  write  a  good  hand,  express  himself 
in  drawing  and  language,  perform  elementary  problems 
in  the  five  fundamental  processes,  can  make  simple  toys 
for  himself  and  others,  and  is  keen  in  observation. 
With  this  ability  to  command  himself,  he  passes  into 
the  intermediate  school,  where  his  studies  now  become 
more  comprehensive  and  involve  a  general  survey  of 
the  common  fields.  Transition  to  the  high  school  or 
gymnasium  is  marked  by  the  interests  which  charac- 
terize the  early  adolescent  period.  Within  any  one 
school,  the  grouping  is  broad,  flexible,  ethical,  and 
natural.  As  a  rule,  the  ethical  placement  of  a  child 
is  where  he  can  be  the  happiest. 

Are  the  results  described  possible  where  a  school  is 
only  partly  organized  for  individual  work — say  in  only 
one  or  two  departments? 

Not  to  the  high  degree  desirable.  There  must  be 
the  longer  periods  for  laboratory  work.  There  must 
be  unity  of  spirit  and  purpose.  There  must  be  no  op- 


288  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

portunity  for  one  department  to  encroach  on  another. 
Without  these  essential  conditions  the  work  may  find 
some  happy  realization,  but  not  to  its  full  fruition. 

What  are  the  best  factors  in  the  education  of  a 
child  so  trained? 

The  ability  to  command  self;  the  development  of 
Nature's  endowment ;  the  discovery  of  interest ;  the  de- 
lights of  search  after  truth  and  of  personal  creation; 
the  linking  of  work  to  life  purpose ;  and  the  realization 
of  personal  contribution  to  the  summum  bonum  of 
human  happiness  and  human  enrichment. 

"  Self-reverence,  self-knowledge,  self-control ;  these 
three  alone  lead  men  to  sovereign  power.  Yet  not  for 
power;  power  of  itself  would  come  uncalled  for.  But 
to  live  by  law,  acting  the  law  we  live  by  without  fear; 
and  because  right  is  right,  to  follow  right — were  wisdom 
in  spite  of  consequence." 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE    FUNCTION    OF    THE    TEACHEK. 

"  God  mouldeth  some  for  a  schoolmaster's  life."  (Thomas 
Fuller.) 

THE  greatest  thing  a  teacher  ever  brings  to  a  child 
is  not  subject-matter,  but  the  uplift  which  conies  from 
heart  contact  with  a  great  personality.  This  should  be 
the  first  prerequisite  in  determining  the  acceptability 
of  a  teacher.  An  old  Greek  adage  reads,  "  Give  your 
child  to  a  slave,  and  instead  of  one  slave  you  will  then 
have  two."  It  certainly  is  true  that  as  each  adult 
thinks  back  over  his  own  school  career  he  ever  recog- 
nises, as  the  thing  which  helped  him  most,  the  impulse 
which  came  from  some  sunshiny  and  capable  teacher. 

President  Charles  F.  Thwing  once  made  a  very 
interesting  study  of  the  responses  of  fifty  representative 
men  to  questions  involving  "  The  best  thing  college  does 
for  a  man."  *  The  entire  drift  of  the  testimony  was 
that  the  most  these  men  got  from  the  college  was  in- 
spiration from  life  contact  with  great  leaders.  The 
subject-matter  of  the  college  received  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  credit.  Among  other  good  things  presented 
in  this  study,  President  Jordan  says,  "  The  best  thing 

*  Forum,  March,  1896. 

289 


290  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

a  college,  as  a  rule,  does  for  a  young  man  is  to  bring 
him  into  contact  and  under  the  inspiration  of  other 
men  of  higher  type  than  he  is  otherwise  likely  to  meet." 
Dr.  Parkhurst  remarks,  "  While  books  can  teach,  per- 
sonality only  can  educate  " ;  and  Henry  M.  Alden  tes- 
tifies, "  The  best  thing  which  Williams  College  did 
for  me  was  to  bring  me  within  the  scope  of  Dr.  Mark 
Hopkins's  inspirational  teaching."  President  Thwing 
sums  up  the  whole  matter  in  saying,  "  A  comprehen- 
sive inference,  therefore,  to  be  derived  from  these  let- 
ters is  that  the  best  thing  which  the  American  college 
has  done  for  its  graduates  is  in  giving  a  training  which 
is  itself  largely  derived  from  personal  relationship." 
The  same  great  underlying  truth  was  cogently  expressed 
by  Garfield  when  he  said,  "  A  log  with  Mark  Hopkins 
on  its  one  end  and  James  Garfield  on  the  other  is  col- 
lege enough  for  me  " ;  and  also  by  Dr.  Willard  Scott  in 
saying,  "  Isolation  with  greatness  is  the  greatest  parent 
of  growth." 

This,  true  in  the  college,  is  just  as  much  in  evidence 
in  the  lower-grade  school.  We  can  not  be  too  careful 
in  our  insistence  on  great  personality  in  the  early 
awakening  years  of  life  purpose.  A  single  hour  in  the 
day,  a  single  year  in  the  school  career,  so  uplifted,  is 
an  education  in  itself. 

To  be  a  teacher  so  endowed  one  must  possess  good 
health,  a  sunshiny  heart,  a  love  for  God  and  for  children, 
a  vigorous  mind,  and  qualities  of  capable  leadership. 
Undoubtedly,  some  teachers  are  great  in  personality 
without  one  or  more  of  these  attributes,  but  few  souls 
are  so  strong  as  to  be  great  when  otherwise  constituted. 

To  be  fresh  and  vigorous  for  such  personal  leader- 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  291 

ship,  it  is  important  that  the  teacher  should  not  be  worn 
out  by  advance  preparation  of  lessons — the  school  hour 
calls  for  the  very  embodiment  of  potential  energy.  The 
minister  who  comes  fresh  from  an  hour  or  day  of  rest  is 
fuller  of  personal  magnetism,  the  quality  that  tells  in 
effective  preaching,  than  the  one  who  expends  all  his 
energy  on  manuscript  work.  So  the  teacher  must  have 
vital  force,  unimpaired  by  out-of-school  work,  in  order 
that  she  may  lift  her  pupils.  It  is  essential  also  that 
the  teacher  should  not  be  laden  with  slavish  recitation 
work.  There  must  be  opportunity;  first,  for  intimate 
association  with  pupils  in  kindred  pursuits ;  second,  for 
the  lighting  of  the  pupil's  life  torch  at  the  altar  of  in- 
spiration, by  presentation  of  lofty  personal  ideals; 
third,  for  the  communistic  enjoyment  of  the  discoveries 
of  correlated  labor.  These  essentials  can  obtain  to  only 
a  limited  extent  under  the  slavish  exactions  of  hearing 
recitations,  marking  time,  and  keeping  up  to  the  me- 
chanical assignments  demanded  by  the  graded  system. 
They  are,  however,  wonderfully  effective  in  the  school 
of  laboratory  practice. 

The  graded  system  has  been  in  force  so  long  that 
many  conscientious  teachers  feel  that  they  are  not  doing 
their  duty  unless  they  lend  themselves  to  its  long-time 
practices.  Now  let  us  see  what  are  the  values  of  its 
leading  exercises. 

Preparation  of  Lessons. — Can  an  immature  person 
study  well  when  distracted  by  the  more  lively  exercise 
of  the  class  recitation?  Can  he  work  with  any  correct 
habits  of  thought  by  the  evening  lamp,*  interrupted  by 

*  "  Artificial  illumination  is  faulty  at  best,  but,  even  in  the  best 
and  most  favoured  homes,  the  elder  group  is  apt  to  monopolize 


AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  demands  of  the  home,  the  uncongenial  exercises  of 
others  of  the  family,  and  the  coming  and  going  of  con- 
stant distractions?  How  much  is  such  work  worth  in 
pure  educational  value?  The  adult  seeks  a  quiet 
library  for  the  accomplishment  of  work.  Why  should 
we  expect  more  of  an  immature  child?  Is  it  not  true 
that  the  teacher's  contact  with  a  pupil  is  largely  centred 
in  detective  exercises;  and  that  the  pupil  receives  rel- 
atively little  training  in  how  to  study,  in  how  to  make 
work  easy,  in  how  to  proceed?  The  laboratory  plan 
commends  itself  in  that  it  is  practically  all  study.  The 
teacher's  direction  is  centred  on  the  study  of  the  child. 
The  habit  which  makes  the  interested,  trained,  inde- 
pendent, and  effective  student  is  the  cardinal  aim  of 
the  teacher's  policy.  Is  this  not  the  major  purpose  of 
the  school;  and  in  the  past  has  it  not  been  largely  a 
matter  of  drift  ?  Is  it  not  possible  that  much  valuable 
time  of  school  life  has  been  squandered  because  the 
children  have  not  been  systematically  taught  how  to 
study  ? 

The  Recitation. — I  am  willing  to  accept,  as  a  legiti- 
mate means  of  individual  training,  any  recitation  when 
it  builds  itself  on  individual  interest,  gives  free  oppor- 
tunity for  individual  advancement,  and  eliminates  all 
dead  time.  But  does  the  old-time  recitation  do  this? 
Is  every  child  in  the  class  normally  interested  ?  Is  there 
free  opportunity  for  each  one  to  live  up  to  the  best  that 
is  in  him,  whatever  the  degree  may  be?  Is  there  not 
always  an  honoured  head  to  the  class,  and  also  a  dis- 

the  shaded  drop-light  or  student  lamp,  while  the  schoolboy  with 
his  text-books  is  found  somewhere  in  the  outer  circle."  (McLean.) 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  293 

couraging  tail  ?  Are  all  the  pupils  of  the  class  equally 
occupied  during  all  the  moments  of  the  recitation  ?  Ad- 
mittedly, some  are  getting  great  value  from  their  reci- 
tation; but  are  all  so  benefited  at  every  point  of  the 
procedure?  Are  not  some  of  the  pupils  carefully  cal- 
culating their  chances  of  being  called  on,  with  every 
encouragement  to  take  a  rest  as  soon  as  their  turns 
have  passed?  Are  not  many  learning  skill  in  looking 
the  teacher  squarely  in  the  eye,  without  hearing  a  word 
that  is  being  said?  Is  there  not  encouragement  to  the 
shrewd  practices  of  certain  pupils,  who  know  how  to 
successfully  get  a  chance  to  recite  on  easy  passages  and 
to  throw  the  more  difficult  ones  to  their  classmates ;  or 
to  call  out  the  talkative  teacher,  who  can  almost  always 
be  induced  to  kill  time  until  the  recitation  closes? 
What  are  the  ethical  values  of  this  kind  of  work? 

Or  suppose  the  work  is  all  honestly  done ;  how  much 
of  the  work  does  each  pupil  recite  on?  What  fraction 
of  the  recitation  period  is  he  actually  reciting  ?  Is  not 
the  pupil's  entire  day  practically  filled  with  recitations, 
with  only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  time  actually 
filled  by  the  pupil's  own  recitation  ?  Is  it  not  true  that 
the  best  pupils  are  the  ones  most  called  on  when  the 
visitors  are  present  ?  Does  the  recitation  of  the  bright 
pupil,  or  of  even  the  average  one,  fit  the  necessities  of 
those  at  the  foot  of  the  class?  Is  there  not  a  super- 
natural strain  on  the  teacher  in  attempting  to  do  what 
can  not  be  done  ?  Is  not  the  recitation  a  fearful  bore 
to  the  visitor  who  is  forced  to  sit  through  its  long,  tor- 
tuous, and  uninteresting  passage  ?  If  this  is  true  in  the 
experience  of  the  visitors,  who  escape  as  soon  as  com- 
mon courtesy  permits,  what  then  of  the  pupils  who 


294  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

spend  the  greater  part  of  their  school  lives  in  its  un- 
productive passivity  and  are  supposed  to  be  interested 
and  normally  profited  when  they  are  not? 

In  contrast  with  this,  the  study  time  and  the  recita- 
tion hour  are  merged,  in  the  laboratory  school,  into  one 
common  period  of  continuous  work  for  each  and  every 
pupil.  There  is  recitation,  but  it  is  incidental,  not  ob- 
jective. It  fits  every  pupil  at  the  point  of  his  greatest 
need.  It  engenders  a  feeling  of  liveliest  sympathy  be- 
tween the  pupil  and  his  teacher.  The  platform  and 
pedestal  have  disappeared.  The  teacher  appears  of 
"  flesh  and  blood  "  in  common  with  other  mortals,  and 
is  all  the  more  helpful  because  of  kindred  interests.  As 
of  Agassiz,* 

"  His  magic  was  not  far  to  seek, 
He  was  so  human  " ; 

so  also  it  is  true  of  the  teacher.  There  is  opportunity 
for  expression  of  interest,  for  sympathetic  direction, 
and  for  inspiration.  As  President  Harper  has  well  said, 
"  The  recitation  is  too  expensive."  We  must  find  our 
way  to  an  exercise  of  less  passivity  and  of  greater 
activity. 

The  Examination. — The  examination  is  certainly  a 
very  important  exercise,  but  it  must  be  for  the  child 
and  not  for  the  teacher.  The  teacher  who  can  not  de- 
termine the  value  of  a  child's  work,  without  resort  to 
a  detective  exercise,  is  not  very  much  of  an  educator. 

*  "  Of  the  few  great  men  I  knew  face  to  face,  in  my  own  edu- 
cation, I  place  first  Agassiz,  with  his  abounding  life,  his  fearless 
trust  in  man  and  God,  and  his  vital  interest  in  everything  that 
man  or  God  had  done."  (Jordan.) 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  295 

The  values  of  the  examination  are  the  opportunity 
to  the  child  to  apply  the  tri-square  to  his  own  work, 
to  arrange  his  own  acquisitions  in  a  logical  and  corre- 
lated whole,  and  to  express,  not  his  weaknesses,  but  the 
best  that  is  within  him.  In  life  the  man  is  measured 
not  by  what  he  does  not  know,  but  by  what  he  can  do. 
In  the  same  way  the  school,  to  be  true  to  life,  must 
give  the  pupil  opportunity  to  arise  to  his  best;  and  this 
is  particularly  applicable,  in  needed  reform,  to  the  ex- 
amination exercise.  I  admit  that  there  may  be  a  lim- 
ited value  in  the  exercise  where  the  books  are  all  taken 
from  the  pupils,  the  maps  reversed,  and  the  teacher 
proceeds  to  run  down  the  ignorance  of  the  pupils, 
crammed  and  overstrung  in  anticipation  of  such  super- 
natural ordeal;  no  matter  how  disappointing  the  re- 
sults may  be  to  the  teacher,  when  she  discovers  the 
pupils  only  look  at  the  marks,  and  not  at  the  work  itself, 
when  the  papers  are  passed  back.  Doubtless  there  may 
be  some  little  value,  although  with  difficulty  seen,  in 
the  exercise  of  the  heavy-laden  and  conscientious  teach- 
er, when  in  the  cold  of  her  room  two  miles  from  the 
school  she  proceeds,  wearied  and  discouraged,  to  a 
post-mortem  examination  of  this  kind;  but  the  results 
thereof  can  not  for  a  moment  be  compared  with  the 
live  personal  exercises  wherein  the  teacher  sits  down 
by  the  side  of  the  child  and  then  and  there,  with  both 
pairs  of  eyes  on  the  same  warm  paper,  proceeds  to 
point  out  in  sympathetic  words  the  places  of  needed  cor- 
rection and  offers  suggestions  for  the  work's  improve- 
ment. To  this  latter  exercise  must  the  examination 
come.  In  this  there  is  no  incentive  to  dishonesty.  The 
work  is  alive.  The  pupil  feels  the  influence  of  personal 
21 


296  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

value,  accepts  criticism  in  the  spirit  given,  and  while 
the  work  is  warm,  proceeds  to  its  improvement.  The 
work  has  become  a  purely  personal  matter  and  con- 
cerns no  one  else  but  himself  and  his  teacher.  The 
pupil's  note-book,  his  developing  thesis,  and  all  his  exe- 
cuted work  then  presents  itself  in  his  examination ;  and 
in  that  examination  he  has  a  right  to  bring  into  contri- 
bution every  help  that  may  possibly  be  available.  The 
pupil  who  in  his  examination,  with  his  books  all  spread 
out  before  him,  with  the  maps  on  the  wall,  and  the 
library  close  at  hand,  can  not  be  trusted  to  do  his  work, 
has  not  got  very  far  along  in  his  education — he  is  still 
in  the  primary  grade.  How  does  the  man  arise  to  his 
best  in  literary  endeavour?  In  the  library,  surrounded 
by  the  best  helps  he  can  master.  It  is  then  he  produces 
his  best  creations.  In  the  same  way  must  the  school 
examination  lift  itself  to  this  higher  level.  It  must 
give  opportunity  for  the  pupil  to  express  his  strengths.* 
It  will  now  be  seen  that  in  the  school  of  laboratory 
procedure  there  is  the  more  intimate  contact  between 
the  teacher  and  the  child — in  other  words,  association', 
there  is  the  more  active  turning  of  all  endeavour  on 
personal  investigations — discovery:,  there  is  the  co-or- 
dination of  the  study  period,  the  recitation  and  the 
examination  into  a  unified  exercise  wherein  the  pupil 
can  arise  to  his  best — education',  and  there  is  the  light- 

*  "  Goethe,  Schiller,  the  great  philologists  and  philosophers 
before  1820,  were  never  examined.  If  youth  did  not  learn  at  the 
university,  the  injury  was  theirs.  There  was  some  trust  in 
instinct,  nature,  and  free  growth  in  the  forest  as  well  as  in  the 
monotonous  rows  of  the  nursery,  and  more  freedom  for  both  pupil 
and  school."  (Hall.) 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  297 

ing  of  the  torch  at  the  altar  of  related  endeavour — in- 
spiration. Is  this  not  the  great  ideal  of  the  educator 
— to  make  school  life  real;  to  give  it  human  interest; 
to  lift  into  the  realm  of  discovery  and  creation?  And 
how  uplifting  even  to  the  little  child,  to  express  not 
simply  the  thoughts  of  other  people,  as  Plato's  slave, 
but  to  realize  that  his  work  also  has  a  creational  value, 
and  that  life  is  the  better  for  his  having  lived.  As  Dr. 
Hodge  says :  "  What  an  infinite  delight  it  is  for  a  child 
to  tell  a  teacher  something  he  did  not  know ;  to  find  out 
something,  not  seen  as  a  puzzle,  the  key  of  which  the 
teacher  holds,  but  something  the  teacher  actually  wants 
to  know!"  Indeed,  the  child  is  very  much  like  the  older 
person  at  his  best.  Happy  are  those  teachers  who  will 
condescend  to  thus  live  and  learn  with  the  children; 
and  most  unfortunate  is  the  one  who  insists  on  seeing 
with  one  pair  of  eyes,  probably  spectacled  at  that,  the 
infinite  glimpses  of  beauty  and  of  creation  and  of  life 
that  reveal  themselves  to  a  hundred  eyes,  eager,  ex- 
pectant, and  observing. 

This,  then,  is  the  function  of  the  teacher — not  to 
cram,  to  hear  lessons,  and  to  direct  details — but  to  in- 
spire, to  suggest,  to  utilize,  and  to  bless.  A  policy  of 
this  kind  would  reconstruct  the  school,  would  bring 
salvation  to  the  so-called  dullard  and  the  dunce,  and 
would  lift  every  pupil  into  an  atmosphere  of  higher 
achievement  and  ethical  culture.  Its  realization  lies 
directly  before  the  school  of  to-day. 

But  the  teacher,  as  the  sympathetic  friend  of  the 
child,  owes  him  more  than  inspiration.  The  teacher 
must  also  be  the  child's  counsellor  and  adviser.  To 
this  end  systematic  child-study  has  its  high  place  in 


298  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  school.  The  study  of  exceptional  children,  as  out- 
lined by  Bohannon,*  is  eminently  practicable.  It  is 
also  exceedingly  serviceable,  because  it  at  once  encour- 
ages the  teacher  to  be  on  the  outlook  for  needs  in  chil- 
dren. With  shame  be  it  said,  many  a  child  has  been 
punished  by  the  school  when  his  only  fault  was  that  he 
could  not  see  some  things  which  others  saw  well;  when, 
perhaps,  his  hearing  was  intermittent,  and  the  very  fact 
that  he  could  hear  well  at  certain  times  led  the  teacher 
to  suppose  that  he  could  hear  well  at  all  times.  These 
and  similar  difficulties  are  not  self-detected,  and  oft- 
times  the  man  or  the  woman  never  discovers  the  diffi- 
culties which  limit  a  fuller  usefuness.  Any  direc- 
tion of  the  teacher's  attention  to  the  finding  of  these 
exceptional  cases  leads  to  discoveries  which  must  con- 
tinue and  systematize  the  entire  field  of  observations 
of  children.  The  system  of  child-study  in. practice  at 
the  Worcester  State  Normal  School  is  particularly 
adapted  to  this  line  of  investigation.  On  blanks,  ever 
at  hand,  the  teachers  are  encouraged  to  record  every- 
thing of  exceptional  interest  which  they  may  observe 
concerning  their  school  children.  These  returns  are 
afterward  grouped,  and  become  the  basis  of  much  valu- 
able study  later  on;  but  the  greatest  value  is  in  the 
habit  given  to  teachers  to  be  on  the  outlook  for  excep- 
tional needs.  From  this  elementary  beginning,  child- 
study,  under  encouragement,  goes  forward  to  a  more 
highly  developed  plan,  which  can  not  but  become  the 
basis  of  the  scientific  education  of  the  child,  f 

*  Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  iv,  pp.  3-60. 
f  The  writer,  in  his  work  at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  reduced  this  plan 
of  work  to  a  card-index  system,  by  which,  in  a  moment  of  time, 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  999 

The  value  of  a  life  book  for  each  child,  with  colla- 
tion of  data,  from  earliest  infancy  and  systematically 
continued,  is  strongly  emphasized.  The  excellent  form 
prepared  by  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Dickinson,  for  the  use  of 

valuable  data  concerning  each  one  of  six  thousand  children  were 
at  command.  The  first  card  in  the  series  was  devoted  to  Life  Rec- 
ord, and  gave  the  name  of  the  pupil,  his  national  blood,  birth 
date,  birthplace,  parent  or  guardian's  name,  residence  address, 
place  (city  or  rural)  where  infancy  had  been  spent,  the  names  of 
school,  grade,  and  teacher  during  each  year  of  his  school  life,  and 
circumstances  of  special  history.  A  Health-Record  Card  gave 
name,  age,  general  health,  weight,  height,  past  sickness  and  when, 
past  injury  and  when,  present  difficulties,  date,  name  of  report, 
and  adaptation  of  school  plans.  A  Scholarship  and  Advancement 
Card  reported  special  interests,  special  strengths,  and  special  weak- 
nesses, and  recorded  special  directions  and  subsequent  history. 
An  Attendance- Record  Card  reported  only  those  who  were  excess- 
ively irregular  in  attendance,  and  gave  reasons  for  such  liability, 
frequently  under  encouragement.  A  Special  Interest  and  Aims 
Card  described  more  fully  the  individual  trends,  interests,  and 
aims  of  pupils,  and  recorded  adaptations  in  school  plans.  A  Spe- 
cial Observation  Card  reported  special  traits  of  peculiar  educational 
interest,  such  as  cases  of  double  vision,  mirror  writing,  phenome- 
nal development  in  mathematics,  arrested  development,  etc.  An 
Unsatisfactory-work  Card,  with  proper  record,  made  the  pupil  so 
reported  the  subject  of  special  diagnosis  and  treatment ;  and  so 
on,  with  several  other  cards  of  the  series.  These  cards  were  only 
three  inches  by  five  inches,  and  were  tabbed  and  in  colours  to 
call  attention  to  special  cases. 

Every  pupil  was  represented  in  the  Life  Record  and  Advance- 
ment registrations.  In  order  to  make  the  work  light  for  the 
teacher,  the  other  reports  of  the  series  were  made  only  on  the  dis- 
covery of  something  exceptional.  It  will  be  seen  that  some  pupils 
by  this  means  were  represented  by  few  cards,  because  their  con- 
dition was  fairly  normal ;  other  individuals,  sometimes  by  a  dozen 
or  more  cards  of  varied  data.  As  the  exceptional  reports  were 
made  only  as  the  occasion  demanded,  there  was  no  accumulation  of 


300  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

the  mothers  of  Denver,  and  also  Miss  Millicent  Shinn's 
Study  of  a  Child,  are  very  suggestive. 

The  study  of  exceptional  cases  makes  a  definite, 
simple,  and  practical  beginning  for  scientific  child- 
study  in  any  school.  Indeed,  it  is  remarkable  how  a 
study  of  exceptional  cases  and  phases  gathers  in  almost 
all  that  is  important  for  the  scientific  purposes  of  the 
school.  However,  it  is  desirable  that  this  study  should 
gradually  become  comprehensive  enough  to  fully  rep- 
resent every  child.  With  the  study  of  exceptional  cases 
as  a  convenient  beginning  and  nucleus,  the  work  can 
easily  and  gradually  be  extended  and  enlarged  until  it 
comprehends  all  the  characteristic  data  pertaining  to 
each  and  every  child.  President  Hall,  in  the  round 
table  conducted  by  him  at  the  Saratoga  meeting  of  the 
National  Educational  Association,  outlined  some  very 
important  work  in  child-study,  which  the  teachers 
might,  with  profit,  incorporate  in  their  work.  This 
presentation  by  Dr.  Hall  may  be  said  to  be  the  very 
beginning  of  the  child-study  movement  in  America. 
To  this,  he  and  also  Dr.  Burnham,  in  subsequent  years, 
have  added  some  very  important  suggestions  for  the 

work  for  the  teacher  at  any  time,  and  the  collection  of  vital  sta- 
tistics was  a  growth  from  a  small  beginning  to  a  collection  of 
more  than  thirty  thousand  cards.  Indexed  as  they  were,  any 
child's  record  could  be  found  in  a  moment  of  time ;  it  was  always 
subject  to  revision ;  it  was  capable  of  indefinite  expansion :  and 
the  cases  needing  special  attention  stood  out  in  colours  securing 
instant  recognition. 

This  reference  is  given  merely  for  illustration.  Perhaps  the 
system  should  be  more  fully  described.  The  plan  could  be  easily 
enlarged  on ;  but  this  was  intended  to  be  of  instant  service  and  to 
avoid,  in  the  massing,  the  loss  of  valuable  individual  returns. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  301 

guidance  of  the  work.  Many  excellent  plans  for  child- 
study  are  operative  in  different  schools  of  America.* 

The  values  of  association  and  child-study  have  been 
discussed.  It  now  remains  for  us  to  consider  one  more 
factor  in  the  trinity  of  the  teacher's  function.  It  is 
that  involved  in  the  discovery  of  the  child's  future. 
Not  that  the  teacher  should  determine  the  vocation 
for  which  the  child  is  best  fitted,  any  more  than  should 
the  parent ;  but  it  is  the  supreme  mission  of  the  teacher 
to  hold  up  to  the  child  a  vision  of  life,  so  that  the 
child,  in  his  lack  of  personal  experience,  may  have  the 
data  necessary  for  his  own  generalization  and  then  the 
fostering  care  which  makes  possible  the  realization  of 
dawning  ambition. 

A  system  of  school  savings,  with  the  definite  object 
of  sustenance  during  college  training,  should  be  a  part 
of  every  school.  Such  a  system  would  attract  from  the 
very  entrance  of  the  child  into  the  school,  or  better  still 
at  birth,  an  accumulation  of  savings  which,  at  com- 
pound interest,  would  do  much  toward  guaranteeing 
a  liberal  education  to  every  child.  It  would  also  be  a 
centre  of  bequests,  which  would  endow  every  child's 
college  opportunity,  the  same  as  college  chairs  are  now 
sustained. 

How  about  the  markings  of  pupils?  How  are  their 
records  to  be  kept? 

There  should  be  no  mechanical  markings  whatever. 
Pupils  should  be  taught  to  work  from  pure  love  for  the 
work  and  because  it  is  right.  All  percentages,  rankings 
in  scholarship,  honours,  and  other  discriminating  re- 

*  L.  N.  Wilson's  Bibliography  of  Child  Study, 


302  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

wards  are  false  to  the  spirit  of  education  and  should 
have  no  place  in  the  school.  Moreover,  who  made  the 
schoolman  so  omniscient  that  he  can  justly  take  into 
consideration  all  the  differentiating  circumstances  of 
life,  when  he  attempts  to  mark  on  a  mechanical  scale 
the  infinite  variations  of  mind,  which  can  not  be  meas- 
ured? 

As  to  records,  certainly  the  pupil  is  entitled  to  some 
definite  credits  on  the  books  of  the  school.  I  have  found 
it  an  excellent  and  all-sufficient  practice  to  give  each 
child  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  earlier  if  he  withdraws, 
a  sheet  of  specifications  telling  in  plain  English  just 
what  work  he  has  satisfactorily  covered  in  each  depart- 
ment of  work.  This  advancement  sheet  becomes  a 
definite  basis  for  his  continuation  of  work  in  any  school 
where  he  may  appear..  A  duplicate  sheet,  properly  in- 
dexed, is  left  in  the  possession  of  the  school.  A  collec- 
tion of  these  sheets,  together  with  other  child-study 
data  described,  in  the  process  of  years  constitutes  the 
life  history  of  the  child. 

What  is  the  character  of  the  card  reports  sent  to 
the  parents? 

There  are  no  regular  reports  sent  to  the  homes.  In 
the  first  place,  the  teacher  and  not  the  parent  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  school  progress  of  the  child.  In  the 
second  place,  if  the  parent  wishes  to  ascertain  informa- 
tion concerning  the  work  of  the  child,  the  school  office 
or  school  room  is  the  proper  place  to  gather  such  infor- 
mation. Or,  if  the  teacher  desires  consultation  with  the 
parent,  a  visit  to  the  home,  or  an  invited  conference  at 
the  school,  will  bring  about  a  systematic  relation  not 
otherwise  possible.  Kegular  conference  hours  are  al- 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  303 

ways  valuable.  There  are  certainly  many  printed  sug- 
gestions regarding  food,  sleep,  exercises,  etc.,  which  will 
be  much  appreciated  by  the  parent;  but  the  school 
should  never  antagonize  the  home  by  unloading  defi- 
ciencies and  responsibilities  which  belong  to  the  school. 
Ordinarily  the  most  unhappy  and  non-ethical  day 
in  the  school  is  the  day  when  the  usual  monthly  or  term 
reports  are  given  out.  No  teacher  gives  these  out  in 
the  morning,  because  they  would  thus  wreck  the  entire 
day.  Usually  they  are  passed  to  the  pupils  the  last 
moment  in  the  day's  session.  Why?  Because  the  re- 
ports embody  an  element  of  injustice.  The  teacher,  in 
her  impotence,  has  attempted  what  can  not  be  done — 
the  measurement  of  creative  mind  with  a  scale  that 
can  not  comprehend  all  the  differentiating  circum- 
stances of  life.  It  is  no  wonder  that  there  is  rebellion, 
and  that  the  teacher  seeks  to  escape  through  opportu- 
nity for  the  school  to  recover  its  equilibrium  overnight. 
The  very  fact  that  the  reports  of  different  teachers  dif- 
fer so  greatly  is  evidence  of  the  ineffectiveness  and  in- 
justice of  the  plan.* 

*  The  writer  once  appeared  at  a  large  high  school  for  lecture 
purpose,  unfortunately  or  fortunately,  on  the  day  when  the  usual 
term  reports  were  to  be  given  out.  In  expectation  of  such  visit, 
it  had  been  decided  by  the  faculty  that  it  would  be  advisable 
to  defer  the  giving  out  of  the  reports  on  that  day,  in  order  that 
the  school  might  be  saved  from  this  non-ethical  disturbance,  and 
thus  make  a  better  appearance.  As  a  student  of  education,  the 
writer  found  something  of  special  interest,  and  concluded  to  re- 
main over  another  day.  The  faculty  met,  as  one  of  the  teachers 
afterward  said,  and  decided  that  the  reports  had  best  be  postponed 
another  day.  Innocent  of  all  knowledge  of  this,  the  visit  was 
protracted  over  a  third  day,  when  the  affair  became  so  ridiculous 


304  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Would  you  have  no  competitive  exercises? 

Yes;  all  life  is  full  of  competition;  but  it  does  not 
thrive  best  in  the  case  where  all  people  do  the  same 
thing  in  the  same  manner  and  in  the  same  time.  The 
pupils  in  the  school  always  know  who  are  doing  the 
best  work,  and  are  actuated  accordingly.  This  is  the 
natural  competition  of  life.  In  this  school  it  is  free 
from  overtension  and  bitter  rivalry,  and  it  is  healthful 
in  kind. 

Granting  that  this  plan  of  work  would  become  very 
much  more  interesting  to  the  pupil,  how  about  the  in- 
terest to  the  teacher? 

There  is  always  an  inspiration  to  a  teacher  in  origi- 
nal work.  It  is  not  teaching  itself  that  takes  the  life 
out  of  the  teacher,  but  routine,  the  lining  up  of  classes 
for  uniform  results,  and  the  requirement  of  results 
where  there  is  little  interest.  President  Eliot,  in  his 
article  on  uniformity  in  schools,  remarks :  "  I  do  not 
know  how  a  woman  teacher  of  a  class  in  a  grammar- 
school  grade,  who  goes  year  after  year  through  the  same 
prescribed  routine  with  pupils  previously  made  as  uni- 
form as  possible,  can  maintain  an  intellectual  fresh- 
ness and  enthusiasm  in  her  work  for  more  than  five  or 
six  years."  Gladstone  used  to  say  that  the  road  lead- 
ing into  London  which  killed  the  most  horses  was  the 
road  of  the  dead  level.  Give  teachers  opportunity  to 
climb  the  heights  and  their  work  will  respond  in  initi- 
ative, in  vigour,  and  in  inspiration.  "  The  letter  kill- 
eth  but  the  spirit  giveth  life." 

that  the  whole  matter  was  explained  and  the  reports  were  issued, 
with  the  result  which  the  teachers  anticipated. 


THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TEACHER.  305 

Should  there  not  be  more  men  teachers  in  the 
schools? 

The  schools  will  always  be  taught  largely  by  women, 
and  properly  so,  because  of  woman's  finer  intuitions, 
greater  faithfulness  in  details,  and  exceeding  patience. 
However,  the  child  should  come  in  contact  with  both 
kinds  of  mind  and  character.  This  applies,  more  or 
less,  to  all  grades  of  instruction,  but  particularly  to 
that  of  the  adolescent  period.  Besides,  teachers  of 
opposite  sexes  are  corrective  one  of  the  other;  they  are 
complemental.  Men,  as  a  rule,  are  more  original  in 
planning;  women,  as  a  rule,  are  more  successful  in 
execution. 

What  opportunity  should  be  given  teachers  for  per- 
sonal and  professional  improvement? 

The  school  should  give  teachers  the  most  liberal 
opportunity.  1.  Escape  from  routine  and  opportunity 
for  the  delights  of  original  work.  2.  The  federation  of 
the  teachers  in  the  development  of  original  plans.  If 
there  is  value  to  the  pupil  in  the  presentation  of  some- 
thing which  the  teacher  did  not  know,  there  is  also  in- 
spiration to  the  teacher  in  being  given  initiative.  3. 
The  school  itself  should  have  classes  for  the  training  of 
teachers,  made  eminently  possible  by  the  work  being 
departmental  and  by  our  plan  of  centralization.  4. 
Teachers  should  be  paid  salaries  enabling  them  to  make 
professional  improvement,  but  these  salaries  should  be 
discriminative.  5.  There  should  be  opportunity  to  gain 
from  the  experiences  of  the  best  schools  in  other  cities 
through  observation;  or  better  still,  by  association  in 
the  same  school  with  co-workers  who  represent,  in  their 
selection,  the  best  personnel  and  the  best  methods  of 


306  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

such  other  cities.  6.  Teachers  of  special  merit  should 
be  given  their  seventh  or  sabbatical  year  for  rest  or 
observing  travel,  on  full  or  part  salary.  Think  of  the 
compensating  returns  to  the  Chicago  Institute  from 
sending  selected  teachers  abroad  for  a  year  on  full 
salary!  The  way  to  get  the  best  value  from  teachers 
is  by  giving  them  opportunity  and  appreciation.  The 
city  which  does  the  most  for  its  teachers  is  the  one 
which  has  the  best  schools.  It  is  the  old  story  of  the 
nobleman's  treatment  of  the  two  brothers,  Date  and 
Dabitur. 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 

THE    RE-ENFORCEMENT    OF    EVOLUTION. 

IF,  in  the  long  struggle  of  the  past,  life  from  its 
lowest  forms  has  reached  anything  of  elevation  and 
improvement,,  it  has  ever  been  by  the  innate  strengths 
of  individuals  and  the  circumstances  which  have  fa- 
voured their  development.  This,  from  earliest  begin- 
nings of  evolution,  has  been  true  of  all  the  forms  of 
life  antedating  man.  It  is  also  the  fundamental 
principle  which  has  given  us  our  finest  flowers  and 
fruits,  and  our  choicest  examples  of  domesticated  ani- 
mal life.  The  culture  of  man  presents  no  exception, 
but,  with  multiplied  re-enforcement,  illustrates  the 
same  universal  law  in  the  elevation  of  universal  life. 
But  man,  while  starting  in  the  school  of  Nature,  has 
frequently  wandered  away  into  the  night,  reaching, 
however,  with  the  succession  of  better  days,  upward 
into  the  light. 

The  old  Hindu  philosophy,  with  all  its  cold,  un- 
productive learning,  cared  nothing  for  the  individual. 
Its  pantheistic  doctrines  taught  that  man  must  sub- 
merge his  personal  identity  and  be  lost  in  the  mass. 
The  reform  of  Buddha  brought  no  light,  but  sank  the 
man  still  deeper  in  his  self-abnegation. 

In  the  old  civilization  of  China,  as  in  the  present, 

307 


308  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

there  was  no  liberty,  no  spontaneity.  Dynasty  after 
dynasty  passed  away,  during  which  no  individual  ever 
saw  his  sovereign,  but  still  lived  on  in  passive  and  grov- 
elling submission. 

In  old  Japan,  however,  this  was  not  so.  The  recog- 
nition of  individuality,  from  the  remotest  historical 
ages,  explains  the  strength  and  genius  of  this  remark- 
able people.  Says  Uchimura:  "  We  were  not  taught  in 
classes  then.  The  grouping  of  soul-bearing  human  be- 
ings into  classes,  as  sheep  on  Australian  farms,  was  not 
known  in  our  old  schools.  Our  teachers  believed,  I 
think  instinctively,  that  man  (persona)  is  unclassifi- 
able,  that  he  must  be  dealt  with  personally — i.  e.,  face 
to  face,  and  soul  to  soul.  So  they  schooled  us  one  by 
one,  each  according  to  his  idiosyncrasies,  physical,  men- 
tal, and  spiritual.  They  knew  each  one  of  us  by  his 
name.  And  as  asses  were  never  harnessed  with  horses, 
there  was  little  danger  of  the  latter  being  beaten  down 
into  stupidity,  or  the  former  driven  into  valedictorians' 
graves." 

The  Hebrews  made  education  compulsory,  and  per- 
haps preserved  their  original  identity  more  than  any 
other  people.  However,  they  opposed  the  loss  of  the 
individual  in  the  mass,  as  evidenced  by  this  rule  in  the 
Talmud:  "If  the  number  of  children  does  not  exceed 
twenty-five,  the  school  shall  be  conducted  by  a  single 
teacher;  for  more  than  twenty-five,  the  town  shall  em- 
ploy an  assistant;  if  the  number  exceeds  forty,  there 
shall  be  two  masters.  .  .  .  After  the  age  of  six  receive 
the  child,  but  load  him  like  an  ox;  however,"  continues 
the  Talmud,  "  children  should  be  punished  with  one 
hand,  but  caressed  with  two." 


THE  RE-ENFORCEMENT  OP  EVOLUTION.      309 

Spartan  education  aimed  to  produce  the  best  indi- 
vidual, but  entirely  for  strength  of  body. 

Athenian  philosophy  sought  the  highest  culture  of 
the  mind ;  but  "  every  free  man  stood  on  the  backs  of 
nine  slaves."  For  the  tenth  man  who  was  held  aloft, 
the  best  culture  in  reading  from  Homer,  in  writing, 
grammar,  gymnastics,  mythology,  and  music  was  pre- 
sented. Socrates's  method  was  entirely  to  originate 
individual  investigation  and  reasoning,  to  which  he 
added  the  inspiration  of  approachableness  and  associa- 
tion. Plato's  Eepublic,  while  eliminating  all  but  the 
superior  souls,  was  essentially  for  the  best  culture  of 
the  state  through  the  enrichment  of  the  individual. 
Says  Plato,  "  Is  not  that  the  best  education  which  gives 
to  the  body  and  to  the  soul  all  the  beauty  and  all  the 
perfection  of  which  they  are  capable  ? "  Aristotle, 
sometimes  said  to  have  been  the  most  learned  man  who 
ever  walked  the  earth,  while  like  Plato  he  planned  only 
for  an  aristocracy,  nevertheless,  for  his  limited  few, 
presented  an  education  of  health  which  led  to  the 
highest  efficiency  of  the  individual. 

Quintilian  remarks,  "  The  desire  of  learning  rests  in 
the  will  which  can  not  be  forced,"  and  "  we  can  scarcely 
believe  how  progress  in  reading  is  retarded  by  attempt- 
ing to  go  too  fast."  Seneca  taught,  "  The  end  is  at- 
tained sooner  by  example  than  by  precept " ;  and  Plu- 
tarch declared  that  "  the  soul  is  not  a  vase  to  be  filled, 
but  rather  a  hearth  which  is  to  be  made  to  glow." 

The  early  Christians  held  the  doctrine  of  the  liberty 
and  equality  of  all  men;  that  the  soul  is  free  and  owes 
allegiance  only  to  God. 

Agricola  wrote,  "  If  there  is  anything  which  has  a 


310  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

contradictory  name  it  is  the  school,  the  Greek  name  for 
which  means  leisure,  and  the  Latin,  Indus,  play;  but 
there  is  nothing  farther  removed  from  leisure  and 
play." 

Sacchini  urged,  "  Do  not  let  the  favouring  of  the 
higher  classes  interfere  with  the  care  of  meaner  pupils, 
since  the  birth  of  all  is  equal  in  Adam  and  the  inheri- 
tance in  Christ." 

Rabelais  wished  his  pupils  to  study  "  through  play- 
ing and  recreation  " ;  and  exclaims,  "  Why !  women  and 
girls  have  aspired  to  the  heavenly  manna  of  good 
learning." 

Montaigne  insisted  that  the  child  should  exercise 
choice,  and  that  Latin  should  be  taught  by  the  mother- 
tongue  method.  He  said,  "  Knowledge  can  not  be  fas- 
tened on  the  mind,  it  must  become  part  and  parcel  of 
the  mind  itself ";  and  also  complained,  "  There  is  a 
great  tendency  in  the  scholastic  world  to  underrate  the 
value  and  potency  of  self-education." 

"In  all  the  operations  of  Nature,"  said  Comenius, 
"  development  is  from  within,"  and  "  Everything  in  the 
intellect  must  come  through  the  senses.  (Nihil  est  in 
intellectu  quod  non  prius  fuerit  in  sensu.)  " 

Plautus  exclaims,  "An  eye-witness  is  worth  more 
than  ten  thousand  ear-witnesses." 

Mcole  insisted  that  "the  purpose  of  instruction  is 
to  carry  forward  the  intelligences  to  the  farthest  point 
they  are  capable  of  attaining." 

Fenelon  said:  "  The  less  formal  our  lessons  are  the 
better.  ...  I  will  give  no  rules  at  all;  it  is  sufficient 
to  give  good  models.  ...  I  have  seen  certain  children 
who  have  learned  to  read  while  playing."  If  a  given 


THE  RE-ENFORCEMENT   OF  EVOLUTION.      3H 

study  was  distasteful  to  the  young  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
Fenelon  passed  immediately  to  something  else. 

Locke  insisted  that  all  studies  should  be  "  attractive 
studies." 

Kousseau's  Emile  was  to  live  a  life  of  Nature.  "  I 
hate  books,"  said  Eousseau.  "  They  teach  us  merely 
to  speak  of  things  we  do  not  know.  .  .  .  Let  him 
always  be  his  own  master  in  appearance,  and  do  thou 
take  care  to  be  so  in  reality.  There  is  no  subjection 
so  complete  as  that  which  preserves  the  appearance 
of  liberty.  It  is  by  this  means  even  the  will  is  led 
captive.  .  .  .  Everything  is  good  as  it  leaves  the  hands 
of  the  Creator;  everything  degenerates  in  the  hands 
of  man."  Of  Emile,  now  twelve  years,  he  says:  "  Now 
is  the  time  for  labour,  for  instruction,  for  study;  and 
observe,  it  is  not  I  who  make  this  choice;  it  is  pointed 
out  to  us  by  Nature  herself.  .  .  .  Things!  Things!  I 
shall  never  tire  of  saying  that  we  ascribe  too  much 
importance  to  words.  With  our  babbling  education 
we  make  only  babblers." 

Condillac  taught  that  the  child  in  his  education 
must  do  "  that  which  the  race  has  done." 

Kant  contended:  "  The  aim  of  education  is  to  give 
the  individual  all  the  perfection  of  which  he  is  capable. 
.  .  .  The  best  way  to  comprehend  is  to  do.  What  we 
learn  the  most  thoroughly  is  what  we  learn  to  some 
extent  by  ourselves." 

Pestalozzi's  school  was  life,  with  natural  objects  and 
no  books.  He  it  was  who  insisted  that  the  soul  must 
be  developed  through  "  what  is  within,"  and  that  "  the 
individuality  of  the  child  is  sacred."  "  Man,"  said  Pes- 

talozzi,  "  it  is  within  yourself,  it  is  in  the  inner  sense 
22 


312  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

of  your  power,  that  resides  Nature's  instrument  for 
your  development.  I  myself  learn  with  the  children. 
Our  whole  system  was  so  simple  and  so  natural  that  I 
should  have  had  difficulty  in  finding  a  master  who  would 
not  have  thought  it  undignified  to  learn  and  teach  as 
I  was  doing/' 

Froebel  gathered  up  the  teachings  of  the  past  and 
put  into  operation  a  great  system  of  education,  the  cen- 
tral principle  of  which  was  "  self-activity."  The  kinder- 
garten, of  which  he  was  the  founder,  is  a  noble  expo- 
sition of  the  harmony  which  may  correlate,  in  educa- 
tion, the  individualistic  and  the  socialistic  interests  of 
man. 

Eoger  Ascham,  sometimes  called  the  Father  of 
School  Methods,  says:  "Beat  a  child  if  he  dance  not 
well  and  cherish  if  he  learn  not  well,  ye  shall  have  him 
unwilling  to  go  to  the  dance  and  glad  to  go  to  his 
books." 

Herbart  left  a  priceless  legacy  in  his  doctrine  of  in- 
terest. He  also  taught:  "  The  teacher  ought  to  make  it 
a  point  of  honour  to  leave  the  individuality  as  un- 
touched as  possible,  to  leave  it  the  only  glory  of  which 
it  is  capable — namely,  to  be  sharply  defined  and  recog- 
nisable even  to  conspicuousness,  that  the  example  of 
the  individual  may  not  appear  insignificant  by  the  side 
of  the  race  itself  and  vanish  as  indifferent.  ...  It  is 
the  individuality  and  the  horizon  of  the  individual 
determined  by  opportunity  which  decide,  if  not  the 
central,  at  least  the  starting  point  of  advancing 
culture/' 

Shakespeare  sums  up  a  world  of  philosophy  when 
he  says: 


THE  RE-ENFORCEMENT  OP  EVOLUTION.      313 

"  No  profit  grows  where  is  no  pleasure  taken ; 
In  brief,  sir,  study  what  you  most  affect." 

Milton  writes,  "  Thus  to  be  taught  in  school  to  ap- 
pear to  know  and  to  speak  as  if  his  knowledge  was  real, 
when  he  is  conscious  it  is  not,  he  is  trained  into  the 
habit  of  untruth." 

Humboldt  asserts,  "  Governments,  property,  religion, 
books,  and  home  are  but  the  scaffolding  to  build  men. 
Earth  holds  up  to  her  master  no  fruit  but  the  finished 
man." 

Says  Richter,  "  Individuality  is  everywhere  to  be 
spared  and  respected  as  the  root  of  everything  good." 

Herbert  Spencer  declares,  "  The  discipline  which 
does  good  to  the  mind  is  active,  not  that  in  which  it  is 
passive ";  and,  "  Any  piece  of  knowledge  which  the 
pupil  has  acquired,  any  problem  which  he  has  himself 
solved,  becomes,  by  virtue  of  the  conquest,  more  thor- 
oughly his  own  than  it  could  else  be  ";  also,  "  Humanity 
has  progressed  solely  by  self-instruction." 

Says  Mills,  "  The  worth  of  the  state  in  the  long 
run  is  the  worth  of  the  individuals  composing  it." 

The  great  Agassiz,  at  his  summer  school  on  the  Isle 
of  Penikese,  taught:  "  All  knowledge  is  individual.  It 
must  be  your  own  and  not  that  of  anybody  else.  Your 
having  a  firm  memory  will  not  suffice;  you  must  assimi- 
late, as  you  digest  food.  We  must  find  out  facts  for 
ourselves,  and  when  we  teach  we  must  teach  our  pupils 
to  find  out  for  themselves.  It  is  the  bane  of  our  schools 
to  confound  men  with  knowledge.  By  this  system  a 
whole  class  of  powers  is  allowed  to  be  dormant." 

Horace  Mann  remarks,  "  Unfortunately,  education 
among  us  consists  too  much  in  telling,  not  in  training." 


314  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

Quick  asserts,  "  Spontaneity  and  self-activity  are 
the  necessary  conditions  under  which  the  mind  educates 
itself  and  gains  power  and  confidence." 

Says  Dr.  William  T.  Harris:  "  Inasmuch  as  the  child 
is  self-active,  and  grows  only  through  the  exercise  of 
self-activity,  education  consists  entirely  in  leading  the 
child  to  develop  this  power  of  doing.  Any  help  that 
does  not  help  the  pupil  to  help  himself  is  excessive." 

John  Dewey:  "  The  unity  of  the  self  is  the  will. 
The  will  is  the  man,  psychologically  speaking.  .  .  . 
Only  by  being  true  to  the  full  growth  of  all  the  indi- 
viduals who  make  it  up  can  society  by  any  chance  be 
true  to  itself/' 

President  Charles  W.  Eliot:  "  The  main  interest  in 
the  teacher's  life  is  to  be  found  in  studying  and  devel- 
oping the  infinitely  various  mental  and  moral  qualities 
of  his  pupils.  .  .  .  True  success  consists  in  making 
children  as  unlike  as  possible." 

President  David  Starr  Jordan:  "  The  growth  of  in- 
dividualism in  education  is  the  most  promising  feature 
in  the  social  outlook  of  America." 

President  William  E.  Harper:  "  Individualism,  co- 
ordination, and  association  are  the  keynotes  to  future 
progress  along  educational  lines." 

President  G.  Stanley  Hall :  "  The  only  safety  lies  in 
the  study  of  and  better  adaptation  to  the  nature  and 
needs  of  childhood.  Strength  lies  in  individualization. 
Progress  is  now  in  differentiation." 

Is  not  development  along  the  lines  of  differences 
and  of  strengths  the  ladder  on  which  all  evolution  has 
climbed  to  its  present  heights  in  the  plant  and  animal 
worlds?  Does  not  the  history  of  education  show  that 


THE  RE-ENFORCEMENT  OF  EVOLUTION.      315 

the  same  operating  law  has  been  the  foundation  of  all 
progress?  Has  there  been  any  other  way  in  which 
achievements  have  been  made  in  invention,  science,  art, 
or  industry?  Does  not  evolution  reach  its  supreme 
height  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  which  establish 
the  claim  that  the  soul  is  free,  that  character  is  made 
only  by  individual  choice,  and  that  the  expectation  from 
different  individuals  is  according  to  talents  intrusted 
"  to  every  man  according  to  his  several  ability  ?  " 

Are  we  not  now  ready  to  formulate  our  definition 
that  education  is  the  evolution  of  the  ego  in  response 
to  environment? 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

MUNICIPAL   DIFFICULTIES  AND   ORGANIZATION. 

THESE  specifications  are  applicable,  with  modifica- 
tions and  adaptations,  to  a  system  of  schools  of  what- 
ever size,  large  or  small.  In  the  serious  consideration 
of  the  plan,  certain  municipal  questions  will  appear 
which  may  as  well  be  here  asked  and  answered,  and 
perhaps  best  in  personal  form. 

Would  not  the  cost  of  the  individual  system  be  much 
greater  than  in  schools  as  now  conducted? 

The  cost  would  not  necessarily  be  greater.  The  in- 
dividual system  equalizes  the  attendance  of  pupils  in 
the  various  rooms.  By  the  present  plan  it  is  impossible 
for  a  small  seventh  or  eighth  grade  to  relieve  an  over- 
full second  or  third  grade.  Frequently  a  greatly  over- 
crowded building  has  several  rooms  where  the  attend- 
ance is  light.  By  individual  organization  the  attend- 
ance is  distributed  so  that  the  various  rooms  have  num- 
bers more  nearly  proportionate  to  working  needs.  Also, 
the  smaller  classes  disappear,  because  these  few  pupils 
can  find  longer  periods  of  time  while  working  with 
pupils  of  different  advancements  in  a  common  labora- 
tory hour.  Again,  the  laboratory  method  makes  short- 
cuts in  the  school  life,  so  that  there  is  the  possibility 
of  saving  the  expense  of  one  or  two  years  in  the  ordinary 
316 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  317 

education  of  the  child.  There  is  one  item  of  greater 
cost,  and  that  arises  from  many  pupils  remaining  in 
school  longer  because  the  work  better  fits  their  indi- 
vidual needs.  This  item  would  be  considerable. 

Would  not  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  pupils 
assigned  to  each  teacher  (I  believe  you  recommend  twenty- 
four  as  an  ideal  number)  greatly  increase  the  cost  of  the 
schools? 

The  present  number  of  pupils  to  the  teacher  is  too 
large  by  any  plan.  As  already  intimated,  the  individual 
plan  can  and  does  handle  as  many  pupils  well,  as  is 
done  by  any  other  plan,  excepting  that,  with  the  indi- 
vidual plan,  the  activities  are  more  normal  and  show 
needs  more  readily  than  is  the  case  as  schools  usually 
are.  Again,  many  schools  in  their  kindergartens,  high 
schools,  and  other  grades  here  and  there,  do  not  even 
now  have  more  than  twenty-four  pupils  to  the  teacher. 
It  is  simply  a  question  of  just  extension  of  the  same 
policy  to  other  equally  deserving  pupils  in  the  schools. 
The  schools  of  Switzerland  and  several  other  countries 
in  Europe  do  not  have  more  than  twenty-four  pupils 
to  the  teacher.  Why  can  not  America  do  as  well? 

Your  plan  calls  for  expert  teachers  in  every  grade; 
for  the  vouchsafing  to  every  child  the  same  quality  of 
instruction  he  might  have  in  the  high  school  or  the  uni- 
versity. Would  this  not  be  very  expensive? 

The  measure  is  advocated  purely  in  the  interests  of 
economy. 

The  plan  of  one-story  buildings  in  order  to  get  natu- 
ral illumination  from  overhead,  without  shadow  and 
with  equal  distribution  to  every  pupil,  may  be  very  sug- 
gestive; but  how  could  a  city  get  room  for  these  one- 


318  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

story  structures.  As  I  understand  it,  our  present  system 
of  sky-scrapers  has  been  forced  ly  inability  to  get  suffi- 
cient ground. 

The  horticulturist  has  no  trouble  in  getting  room 
for  his  one-story  green-houses.  The  man  who  raises 
poultry  on  a  large  scale  is  equally  successful.  In  Paris, 
which  is  a  city  of  solid  humanity  six  stories  high,  the 
schools  have  much  larger  ground  space  than  in  America. 

You  advocate  a  system  of  evening  schools.  It  seems 
to  me  we  have  all  we  can  do  now  to  find  money  enough 
for  the  day  schools. 

Why  should  we  not  have  the  evening  schools?  If 
one  hundred  or  one  thousand  young  people  can  attend 
better  in  the  evening,  why  are  they  not  entitled  to 
as  much  accommodation  as  an  equal  number  of  those 
who  are  now  cared  for  in  the  day  school  ?  Why  should 
not  those  who  labour  all  day  to  support  others  receive 
as  much  consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  city  as  those 
who  are  supported  by  others  ?  Given  the  buildings  and 
the  equipment  already  provided,  the  plant  should  reach 
the  highest  possible  degree  of  service.  With  equal  op- 
portunity to  do  good,  the  evening  school  can  be  main- 
tained at  small  cost  compared  with  the  day  school.  The 
same  thing  is  true  of  the  vacation  school. 

But  is  there  much  demand  for  an  evening  school? 
Will  the  young  people  attend? 

That  depends  entirely  on  the  kind  of  school  pre- 
sented. The  city  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  on  opening  its 
doors  to  evening  high-school  pupils,  found  the  evening 
enrolment  equalled  the  day  enrolment  the  very  first 
year. 

You  propose  that  the  high  school  shall  offer  Us  ex- 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  319 

tension  courses;  indeed,  that  it  shall  be  a  community 
school.  Is  this  expedient? 

Why  not?  There  are  hundreds  of  older  people  in 
the  community  who  would  prize  the  helpfulness  of  the 
school  in  bringing  to  them  opportunity  otherwise  ex- 
ceedingly limited.  The  enormous  sums  of  money  now 
being  expended  in  high-school  buildings  and  equipment 
can  have  their  justification  in  no  other  way.  The  school 
must  comprehend  the  entire  educational  needs  of  the 
community,  and  do  all  the  good  it  can. 

/  understand  you  have  said  that  the  high  school  in 
the  near  future  will  assume  the  work  of  the  college. 
Will  this  be  wise? 

The  larger  high  schools  will  eventually  assume  the 
work  of  the  college.  Their  equipment  even  now  justi- 
fies this.  Whenever  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  high 
school  is  so  large  that  the  post-graduate  work  of  its 
students  can  be  performed  at  less  expense  at  the  home 
than  by  sending  them  away  to  some  central  college, 
then  such  diversion  of  expense  on  the  part  of  the  State 
will  be  entirely  legitimate  and  expedient.  For  instance, 
I  know  of  a  city  of  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants 
the  high  schools  of  which  graduate  this  year  266  pupils. 
With  this  large  number  why  can  not  the  city  furnish 
the  college  education  of  these  students  at  home  cheaper 
than  they  can  get  it  by  going  elsewhere?  This,  how- 
ever, will  only  apply  to  the  larger  high  schools.  The 
smaller  schools  certainly  must  still  send  their  pupils 
away  to  college. 

What  about  the  booh  question?  Do  you  believe  in 
free  books? 

In  new  communities,  where  the  constituency  is  flue- 


320  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

tuating,  yes.  In  settled  communities,  the  schools 
should  furnish  many  library  and  reference  books;  but 
the  pupil  should  own  his  own  standard  text-books  as  a 
matter  of  permanent  possession,  to  be  purchased  by 
him,  or  else  presented  by  the  school  when  the  study  is 
completed.  The  material  used  by  the  pupil,  and  also 
books  of  transitory  value,  might  still  be  furnished  by 
the  school.  The  school  should  also  suggest  lists  of 
books  for  the  child's  individual  library.  The  pupil 
who  graduates  from  the  school  without  the  ownership 
of  a  book  is  unfortunate. 

/  am  told  that  you  advocate  the  school  owning  its 
own  printing  establishment.  Why? 

Given  the  coterie  of  experts  as  recommended  in  our 
plans,  there  should  be  a  more  effective  means  of  prepa- 
ration of  helps  for  the  use  of  pupils,  and  also  for  the 
encouragement  of  original  experiments,  than  the  pres- 
ent plan  presents.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  school  should 
print  its  own  books ;  but  there  should  certainly  be  more 
liberal  opportunity  for  certain  experimental  endeav- 
ours on  the  part  of  the  teachers  to  find  a  convenient 
expression.  Then,  the  school  should  issue  many  com- 
petent suggestions  to  the  home.  Yes,  the  larger  school 
should  also  be  a  publishing  institution.  This,  however, 
would  not  necessarily  be  added  cost. 

To  what  extent  would  the  people  appreciate  a  school 
so  organized? 

Given  sufficient  time  for  effective  operation  and  the 
fruitage  of  results,  there  is  no  question  concerning  the 
popular  favour  attending  such  a  school.  The  American 
people  are  looking  for  results.  Whenever  they  see  the 
products  of  the  school  are  better  health,  more  interest 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  321 

in  study,  freedom  from  evening  work,  shorter  time  in 
the  covering  of  the  courses  of  study,  and  more  evidence 
of  the  continuous  student,  the  people  will  not  be  slow 
to  express  themselves. 

" It  seems  to  me  there  is  little  question"  remarks 
some  municipal  executive,  "  concerning  the  superior 
advantages  of  a  school  so  conducted;  and  I  am  surprised 
to  find  that  its  expenses  would  not  be  materially  greater. 
But  I  am  particularly  interested  in  the  more  radical 
features  involved  in  the  idea  of  a  general  school  farm 
or  park,  where,  with  the  massing  of  facilities  and  oppor- 
tunities, you  advocate  the  centralization  of  all  the 
schools  of  a  town  or  city.  Now  what  would  be  the  cost 
of  such  a  plant?" 

The  cost  would  not  be  so  much  as  might  at  first  be 
supposed.  In  the  smaller  city  it  certainly  would  be  no 
greater.  If  provision  could  be  made  for  the  plan  in 
the  early  growth  of  a  city  even  larger,  the  savings  would 
be  very  great.  But  the  project  is  not  a  hopeless  one 
in  even  the  developed  city.  For  instance,  here  is  a  city 
needing  buildings  at  the  present  time,  the  erection  of 
which  would  require  the  issuing  of  bonds  for  half  a 
million  dollars.  This  amount  and  the  revenues  arising 
from  the  sale  of  valuable  properties  in  the  heart  of  the 
city,  would  no  doubt  meet  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  costs  of 
the  school  farm  and  a  complete  series  of  new  buildings 
erected  according  to  the  plan  proposed.  The  reduced 
costs  in  running  expenses,  arising  from  centralization, 
would  abundantly  make  up  the  difference.  But  there 
would  be  no  difference  to  be  made  up,  excepting  as  the 
city  would  probably  deem  it  wise  to  erect  better  build- 
ings than  the  average  ones  now  housing  the  children. 


322  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

What  would  be  the  size  of  the  farm  for  a  school 
plant  of  this  size? 

Preferably  not  less  than  ten  acres  for  each  thou- 
sand children;  for  a  city  of  one  hundred  thousand  peo- 
ple, not  less  than  two  hundred  acres. 

Is  it  absolutely  necessary,  under  this  plan,  that  all 
the  schools  should  be  moved  to  a  single  plant? 

By  no  means ;  but  the  advantages  arising  would  be 
so  superior  that  all  children  should  be  equally  benefited. 
In  a  city  of  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  there 
might  be  four  school  parks  or  farms,  providing  for  five 
thousand  children  each,  instead  of  one  for  twenty  thou- 
sand children.  Or  the  parks  of  the  city  might  be  util- 
ized for  school  purposes.  The  centralization  of  all 
schools  on  a  single  plant,  however,  would  be  far  more 
economical  and  it  would  not  be  specially  inconvenient. 

How  would  you  meet  the  expense  of  the  electric-car 
service,,  with  which  you  propose  to  gridiron  a  city  and 
transport  the  children? 

By  the  city  owning  and  operating  its  own  car  serv- 
ice ;  or  by  contract  for  school  service  at  certain  hours ; 
or  by  reserving  in  the  franchise  the  privilege  of  free 
transportation  of  school  children.  This  could  be  as 
easily  done  as  to  require  a  corporation  to  make  a  three- 
cent  fare  for  adult  persons,  as  is  now  being  done  in 
some  cities.  The  car  service  would  be  heavy  at  certain 
hours  of  the  day,  but  the  cars  could  be  run  in  trains, 
with  the  children  in  transit  protected  by  closed  rails. 

But  how  about  the  time  lost  in  going  to  and  from 
school? 

It  is  probable  that  the  average  part  of  a  city  of 
100,000  inhabitants  could  be  reached  from  the  school 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  323 

in  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  any  part,  excepting 
very  remote  ones,  in  thirty  minutes.  Children  probably 
spend  nearly  that  time  in  transit  to  the  school  even 
now.  Besides,  children  attending  the  Horace  Mann 
School  or  Felix  Adler's  School  in  New  York,  or  Colonel 
Parker's  Chicago  Institute,  or  Pratt  Institute  in  Brook- 
lyn, do  not  feel  that  even  an  hour  is  too  much  time  to 
spend  in  going  to  a  superior  school.  Pupils  are  willing 
even  now  to  pay  car-fares  to  a  central  high  school,  be- 
cause of  the  greater  advantages  arising  from  centrali- 
zation. In  the  same  way,  the  advantages  would  be  bet- 
ter in  any  grade  of  school.  Besides,  the  ride  itself  is 
a  good  exercise.  What  a  happy  sight  the  school  trains 
would  be  each  day  to  people  who  ordinarily  fail  to  ap- 
preciate the  magnitude  of  school  interests!  It  should 
be  remembered  also  that  the  children  would  be  given 
their  dinners  at  the  school,  and  thus  make  only  one  trip 
each  way. 

How  about  the  number  of  men  required  to  run  such 
a  car  service?  Twenty  thousand  children  would  require 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  trains  of  three  or  four  cars 
each. 

If  the  city  owned  and  operated  its  own  car  line  it 
could  be  understood  the  regular  service  would  be  light 
during  the  limited  time  of  heavy  school  transits.  Or 
the  other  help  of  the  city  could  be  directed  in  this  chan- 
nel at  specified  hours.  Or,  as  our  proposed  plans  con- 
template a  post-graduate  department,  the  young  men 
in  college  training  could  be  partly  supported  in  their 
education  by  this  moderate  service.  But  the  service 
would  necessarily  not  call  for  so  many  trains.  Some  of 
the  children  would  live  near  the  school  farm.  The  city 


324  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

population  would  soon  centre  around  the  school,  ex- 
cepting in  cases  of  wealthier  families.  Again,  as  our 
several  schools  would  now  be  better  classified,  the  hours 
of  session  would  vary  so  greatly  as  to  permit  the  dis- 
tant cars  to  make  two  trips,  and  the  near  ones  three 
or  four  trips.  A  little  system  and  experience  would 
soon  solve  all  the  difficulties.  In  the  cases  of  towns  and 
the  smaller  cities,  where  past  history  shows  the  best 
schools  have  ever  been,  there  would  be  no  great  difficul- 
ties of  this  kind  to  be  solved. 

But  how  about  the  cost  of  the  school  dinner •?  Would 
this  not  be  a  very  great  expense? 

Certainly,  but  not  an  added  expense  to  the  parents, 
for  these  children  must  be  fed  somewhere,  and  with  cen- 
tralization it  could  be  done  much  cheaper  and  more 
conveniently  than  in  so  many  homes. 

Would  not  the  massing  of  children  together  be  a 
serious  objection? 

Not  at  all;  we  even  now  have  many  instances  of 
one  thousand  children  in  a  single  building,  and  that 
on  a  piece  of  ground  scarcely  larger  than  the  foun- 
dation of  the  building.  Think  of  the  pure  air  and 
other  advantages  when  that  number  of  children  have 
ten  acres! 

Your  plan,  however,  provides  for  the  children  of  a 
city  of  100,000  inhabitants — that  is,  approximately,  20,- 
000  children. 

For  purposes  of  illustration  that  is  true,  but  not 
all  on  one  piece  of  ground  of  ten  acres.  Even  in  that 
case,  the  massing  would  not  be  greater  than  it  now  is. 
The  plan  proposed  calls  for  an  approximation  of  ten 
acres  for  each  one  thousand  children.  If  the  city  has 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  325 

5,000  school  children  this  would  demand  four  separate 
sections  of  a  common  tract,  each  ten  acres  or  more,  and 
carrying  each  its  series  of  quadrangle  buildings,  adapted 
respectively  to  the  particular  functions  of  the  play- 
school, the  primary  school,  the  intermediate  school,  or 
the  high  school.  Should  the  school  population  be  10,- 
000,  15,000,  or  20,000,  each  series  of  quadrangle  build- 
ings would  be  proportionately  increased;  or,  for  the 
lower  schools,  duplicate  plants  could  be  built  adjoining 
the  central  plant,  or  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  Think 
of  the  free  play  room,  the  pure  air,  the  abundant  sun- 
shine, the  gardens  and  the  miniature  world  presented 
by  such  a  plant!  Or  even  supposing  the  massing  of 
from  5,000  to  20,000  children  should  be  accomplished 
on  smaller  space,  it  would  be  infinitely  better  to  accom- 
modate them  on  a  single  plant  where  everything  could 
be  absolutely  sanitary,  than  to  mass  them,  as  is  generally 
the  case  now,  in  crowded  streets,  against  aggregations 
of  older  people,  alongside  of  breweries,  stables,  and 
other  objectionable  places.  But  such  massing  would 
not  be  under  the  same  conditions;  for  with  our  school 
plant  each  child  would  have  ten  times  as  much  indi- 
vidual space  as  he  now  has.  If  it  is  a  good  thing  for 
children  to  escape  from  the  city  to  the  country  for  a 
time  now  and  then,  it  certainly  would  be  a  proportion- 
ately better  thing  for  them  to  have  their  entire  school 
life  amid  such  delightful  surroundings. 

What  would  be  the  advantages  in  the  equipment  and 
grading  of  pupils? 

The  advantages  would  be  very  great.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  the  expense  is  very  large,  because  each  build- 
ing must  have  its  separate  equipment,  and  of  a  different 


326  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

kind  for  each  grade.  With  centralization  one  half  of 
this  money  would  equip  the  schools  better  than  many  a 
college  now  is.  In  classifying  and  grouping  the  pupils 
there  would  be  the  possibility  of  fitting  almost  any 
need. 

There  are  also  other  very  superior  advantages.  The 
schools  would  have  the  benefits  of  absolute  sanitation, 
with  adequate  drainage,  abundant  pure  air,  purifying 
sunshine,  wholesome  water,  and  medical  care.  The  park 
would  constitute  a  miniature  world.  The  equipment 
would  be  so  centralized  as  to  enormously  lift  every  de- 
partment of  work.  The  pupils  would  be  grouped  ac- 
cording to  kindred  tastes  in  a  way  not  possible  under 
the  present  plan.  All  school  work  would  take  on  the 
delights  of  personal  discovery.  The  teachers  would 
be  in  sympathy  with  an  original  plan  of  education 
which  would  call  out  the  best  within  them.  The  oppor- 
tunity of  teachers  of  associate  interests  to  meet  in  fre- 
quent conferences,  or  with  the  superintendent  or  super- 
visors, or  to  see  other  model  work,  would  be  abundant. 
The  administration  would  be  centralized  and  rendered 
exceedingly  effective.  The  gardens  would  be  a  cardinal 
feature  of  the  school.  The  school  park,  in  short,  would 
be  the  pride  of  the  city  and  the  Mecca  of  educational 
pilgrimages  from  all  over  the  world. 

How  about  the  school  government?  Would  it  not 
be  largely  military? 

Not  necessarily  so.  It  would  be  purely  a  question 
of  the  director-general  and  his  versatility.  Some  of 
the  largest  schools  in  the  world  are  delightfully  con- 
ducted with  very  little  apparent  discipline.  The  fact 
is,  children  readily  respond  to  the  right  course  of  action 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  327 

when  given  responsibility  and  trust.  As  a  rule,  a  large 
school  is  more  easily  governed  than  a  small  one.  But 
in  our  school  the  children  are  not  really  massed  more 
than  under  usual  conditions.  Beyond  that  the  ability 
of  the  director-general  is  very  much  exercised  even 
in  our  present  schools,  but  so  widely  scattered  in  its 
operations  that  it  does  not  become  manifest.  There  are 
plenty  of  schoolmen  who  could  direct  the  operations 
of  20,000  school  children  on  a  school  plant  of  this  char- 
acter with  perfect  ease. 

Still  you  admit,  do  you  not,  that  such  a  school  sys- 
tem would  cost  more  money?  With  so  many  other  de- 
partments of  city  government,  such  as  street  service, 
lighting,  bridge-building,  police  department,  water  de- 
partment, pauper  department,  fire  department,  and  legal 
department,  each  calling  for  money,  how  can  this  addi- 
tional cost  for  schools  le  met? 

How  can  any  other  department  be  compared  with 
the  school  department?  Is  not  the  entire  life  of  the 
world  centred  in  our  children  ?  Is  not  our  first  care  for 
their  best  culture?  More  than  this,  are  not  all  these 
other  agencies,  important  as  they  are,  accessory  to  the 
one  great  fundamental  question  involved  in  the  high- 
est interests  of  the  children?  How  can  these  other  de- 
partments be  put  on  the  same  level  ?  And  yet,  strange 
to  say,  it  is  usually  much  easier  to  get  the  best  of  mod- 
ern appliances  for  these  other  departments  than  for  the 
school. 

Yes,  the  school  of  the  twentieth  century  will  cost 
more  money;  but  it  should  be  our  pride  that  this  will 
be  the  case.  There  never  was  a  time  in  the  history 
of  the  world  when  the  people  were  willing  and  anxious 


328  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

to  do  so  much  for  their  children  as  now.  Think  of  the 
sacrifices  of  fathers  and  mothers  to-day  that  their  chil- 
dren may  be  happy,  as  typed  in  expenditures  for  pianos, 
bicycles,  better  clothing,  and  general  opportunity — 
things  which  a  generation  ago  were  not  even  dreamed! 
The  father  who  toils  in  the  shop,  office,  or  store,  the 
mother  whose  brain  and  fingers  are  busy  all  the  day, 
know  no  sweeter  reward  than  that  this  loving  sacri- 
fice is  made  that  their  children  may  be  rich.  It  is  the 
old,  old  story  of  the  world  being  lifted  by  vicarious 
sacrifice.  Face  to  face  with  the  promise  of  better  things 
in  the  children's  education,  the  people  are  ready  for  any 
improvement  or  cost  which  may  come.  What,  after  all, 
are  we  living  for,  if  not  for  our  children?  Why  toil 
and  sacrifice  and  expend  if  not  for  the  greater  future 
of  the  child  ?  The  people  are  not  tired  of  taxation  for 
schools,  lut  they  are  tired  of  taxation  without  returns.* 

What  are  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  realization 
of  an  ideal  school? 

The  changeable  constituency  of  school  boards,  the 
slavish  organizations  of  schools  almost  entirely  for  the 
home  teacher,  the  large  number  of  children  given  to  a 
single  instructor,  the  gradation  of  teachers  by  years  of 
service,  the  unbusiness-like  method  of  scaling  the  sal- 
aries with  no  recognition  of  special  merit,  and  the  large 
amount  of  routine  work  forced  on  the  school  executives. 

*  When  the  writer  was  once  spending  several  delightful  days 
in  visiting  Dr.  Hailmann's  magnificent  schools  at  La  Porte,  Ind., 
he  asked  a  citizen  on  the  street  how  the  people  met  the  expense  of 
such  good  schools.  "  Why,"  replied  the  citizen, "  the  schools  of  La 
Porte  cost  more  than  any  others  in  the  State  of  Indiana,  and  it  is 
the  pride  of  the  people  of  La  Porte  that  it  is  so." 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  329 

Are  not  our  school  buildings  among  the  best  in  the 
world  ? 

These  are  not  essentials  but  accessories.  Buildings 
are  the  easiest  things  to  get.  As  a  rule,  so  much 
money  is  spent  in  buildings  that  there  is  nothing  left 
for  the  school.  There  is  many  a  citizen  who  can  see  a 
fine  school  building  who  can  not  see  a  child. 

But,  our  superintendents;  we  have  no  trouble  in  get- 
ting capable  men  for  this  important  office. 

President  Eliot,  in  a  personal  interview,  remarked 
to  me,  "  The  graduates  of  Harvard  University  are  not 
seeking  the  superintendencies  of  schools."  President 
Harper,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  has  also  said, 
"  The  fact  that  our  superintendents  of  education, 
whether  of  nation,  state,  or  county,  have  little  or  no 
authority  and  are  chiefly  statisticians,  is  a  sufficient 
commentary  on  any  alleged  system."  It  is  also  true 
that  the  high-school  principal,  as  a  rule,  is  more  of  a 
man  of  culture  than  the  superintendent  of  schools.  The 
superintendent,  under  the  present  organization  of 
schools,  has  not  time  to  be  very  much  of  an  educator. 

What  do  you  think  of  life  tenure  of  office  for  teachers? 

Teachers,  in  the  discharge  of  faithful  duty,  ought 
to  be  protected  by  having  their  appointment  central- 
ized in  the  hands  of  those  who  know  their  work  and 
who  will  advise  them  at  any  time.  As  far  as  tenure  is 
concerned,  the  poorest  schools  in  this  country,  at  least 
in  the  cities,  are  those  which  approach  most  nearly  to 
the  teachers'  life  tenure  of  office. 

In  what  way  should  school  boards  be  chosen  and  or- 
ganized? What  is  the  best  form  of  school  control? 

The  best  system  of  school  control  is  in  Colorado. 


330  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

There,  excepting  in  East  Denver  and  in  small  districts, 
the  school  board  consists  of  five  members,  each  chosen 
for  five  years  and  by  direct  vote  of  the  entire  city.  The 
school  election  can  not  be  on  the  same  day  as  a  political 
election.  As  only  one  new  member  is  elected  each  year, 
ordinarily  four-fifths  of  the  board  is  composed  of  ex- 
perienced persons.  The  women  have  the  right  of  fran- 
chise in  Colorado,  and  very  largely  exercise  it  in  school 
elections.  This  removes  the  school  elections  from  poli- 
tics, avoids  radical  changes,  and  rests  the  school  con- 
trol largely  with  those  who  are  most  interested. 

To  this  plan  I  would  add  the  appointment  by  the 
Mayor  of  a  nominating  committee  of  one  hundred  rep- 
resentative citizens,  with  equitable  representation  to  all 
parties  and  creeds;  the  presentation  of  ten  names  for 
the  selection  of  one  by  the  voters  at  Australian  ballot; 
and  thirty  days  of  legal  announcement.  A  civic  league, 
organizing  all  the  best  men  in  the  community  for 
effective  enforcement  of  the  law,  and  pledging  each  one 
to  honour  a  call  to  office  should  occasion  arise,  would 
be  a  valuable  adjunct.  Such  an  organization  now  ex- 
ists in  Brookline,  Mass. 

Who  should  appoint  the  teacher,  the  school  board 
or  the  superintendent? 

With  an  organization  like  that  recommended,  the 
appointment  of  teachers  should  be  made  by  the  school 
board  on  the  superintendent's  nomination.  The  super- 
intendent always  needs  a  cabinet  of  advisers.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  competent  superintendent,  under  this 
plan,  would  always  have  his  policy  and  wishes  respected. 

What  should  be  the  character  of  the  superintendent 
needed  for  such  a  school  system? 


MUNICIPAL  DIFFICULTIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  331 

The  superintendent  should  be  a  man  of  sterling 
character  and  great  natural  love  for  children.  He 
should  be  well  educated,  particularly  in  physiology, 
neurology,  and  psychology.  He  should  have  little  to 
do  directly  with  the  business  details  of  the  school;  but 
officials  having  these  important  matters  in  hand  should 
be  under  his  appointment.  He  should  have  ample  time 
for  personal  and  professional  study,  for  mingling  with 
people,  and  also  for  inspection  of  school  systems  else- 
where. His  offices  should  be  in  the  centre  of  his  school 
system,  with  adjacent  conference  rooms,  libraries,  and 
psychological  laboratory.  He  should  have  assistance 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  devote  himself  entirely  to 
the  larger  problems  of  the  schools,  with  the  greater  part 
of  his  time  spent  in  the  presence  of  the  children.  The 
correlation  of  other  administrative  work  should  be  so 
intimate  as  to  give  instant  supply  of  every  detail  in 
order  to  carry  into  effect  every  improvement  or  cor- 
rective initiated  by  the  superintendent.  There  is  noth- 
ing which  so  hampers  a  superintendent  in  the  develop- 
ment of  original  work  as  inability  to  foresee  or  depend 
on  details  of  equipment  and  other  accessories  at  the 
exact  time  of  pupils'  need.  Given  to  the  superintend- 
ents of  America  freedom  from  political,  designing,  and 
inexperienced  environment,  and  opportunity  for  wide 
observation,  personal  study,  immediate  correction  of 
weakness,  and  effective  extension  of  plans,  it  would 
be  wonderful  how  the  change  would  accrue  in  the 
rapid  improvement  of  schools. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

SOMETHING  FOR  THE  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT. 

"  Give  me  health  and  a  day,  and  I  will  make  the  pomp  of 
emperors  ridiculous."  (Emerson.) 

THE  educator  who  wishes  to  reform  the  public- 
school  system  does  not  need  to  go  very  far  out  of  his 
way  to  get  the  generous  assistance  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession. Significant  it  is,  indeed,  that  of  the  35  emi- 
nent physicians  who  answered  Dr.  Stuver's  question,* 
**  Do  you  think  our  present  comprehensive  course  of 
study  is  best  calculated  to  develop  the  highest  physical 
and  intellectual  powers  of  the  child?  "  2  replied  yes, 
32  no,  and  1  only  was  doubtful.  The  purpose,  then,  of 
this  discussion  will  not  be  to  convince  the  doctors  that 
the  school  system  is  wrong,  but  to  present  a  reorgan- 
ized plan  for  their  consideration ;  for,  as  Horace  Mann 
has  well  said,  "  Where  anything  is  growing,  one  former 
is  worth  a  thousand  reformers." 

Is  it  too  ambitious  to  say  that  Chadwick's  state- 
ment f  that  "  a  city  may  be  built  with  any  given  mor- 

*  How  does  our  School  System  influence  the  Health  and  Devel- 
opment of  the  Child?  By  Dr.  E.  Stuver,  of  Fort  Collins,  Colo. 

f  Address  on  Health,  by  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.  B.,  in  Transac- 
tions of  National  Association  for  Promotion  of  Social  Science. 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT.   333 

tality  rate,"  may  be  paraphrased  to  read  that  a  school 
may  be  built  with  almost  any  degree  of  health?  I  am 
perfectly  aware  that  there  are  many  primordial  condi- 
tions of  health  over  which  the  school  has  little  control ; 
but,  as  a  schoolman,  I  am  also  ready  to  admit  that  the 
school  has  never  tried  to  ameliorate  many  of  these  con- 
ditions. The  capable  leadership  of  the  school,  with 
helpful  meetings  for  conferences  and  with  printed  sug- 
gestions concerning  the  food,  sleep,  clothing,  exercise, 
and  general  welfare  of  children,  will  meet  with  a  re- 
sponse and  appreciation  from  the  home  little  dreamed 
of  by  the  schoolman  who  knows  not  the  home.  Health 
is  very  much  a  matter  of  command.  It  is  the  natural 
thing  to  be  well;  the  unnatural,  to  be  sick.  People  do 
not  have  health  because  they  do  not  command  it.  As 
long  as  the  prize-fighter  can  go  into  training  and,  as 
the  result  of  a  few  weeks  of  careful  work,  absolutely 
command  his  health,  so  that  when  he  enters  the  ring 
the  glow  of  conscious  health  will  not  recognise  even 
the  possibility  of  a  defeat,  it  certainly  is  time  for  people 
who  profess  better  things  to  pause  and  consider  what 
they  are  doing  to  control  their  own  health  and  that  of 
their  children.  Good  health  is  not  the  result  of  chance, 
but  of  obedience  to  physiological  law.  "  The  wages  of 
sin  is  death  "  is  never  more  fully  realized  than  in  the 
case  of  the  body,  which  is  the  Temple  of  God;  and,  con- 
versely, "  length  of  days  and  long  life  "  are  the  reward 
of  those  who  keep  the  commandments. 

Therefore,  it  seems  reasonable  to  premise  that  the 
value  of  a  school  is  determined  by  the  extent  to  which 
it  promotes  good  health  as  the  fundamental  condition 
of  effective  work  and  happiness;  that  the  child  has  an 


334  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

inalienable  right  to  expect,  not  simply  that  he  may  gain 
his  education  without  the  sacrifice  of  physical  health, 
but  that  the  school  will  guarantee  to  him  good  health 
as  the  product  of  his  education. 

The  position,  then,  taken  by  this  discussion  is  that 
the  prime  requisite  in  the  education  of  a  child  must  be 
health;  that  good  health  is  subject  to  command;  and 
that  the  school  must  be  measured  by  the  extent  to  which 
it  contributes  directly  to  this  realization. 

With  this  postulate  the  contention  then  is  that  the 
growth  of  the  child  in  body  and  mind  must  be  free. 
Certainly  there  is  the  need  of  the  sunshiny  presence, 
the  wise  counsel,  and  the  capable  direction ;  but  the  fun- 
damental operations  of  the  growing  child  must  be 
spontaneous. 

The  child  must  not  be  robbed  of  his  natural  instincts 
for  play,  and  his  work  will  always  be  more  educative 
when  related  to  play. 

In  his  food  he  must  be  freed  from  hot  breads,  pas- 
tries, and  confections,  and  fed  the  elements  best  cal- 
culated to  make  him  strong.  This  will  not  speedily  be 
his  portion,  unless  there  is  a  better  correlation  of  the 
home  and  the  school.  There  is  no  one  place  where 
modern  science  has  made  so  little  contribution  as  in 
the  kitchen,  and  yet  the  home  is  earnestly  seeking  ca- 
pable leadership  which  it  has  not  found. 

The  child  must  have  his  longer  hours  for  sleep,  and 
in  his  sleep  must  not  be  disturbed  by  worry  carried 
over  from  the  pressure  of  the  day.  Camerer  has 
shown  *  that  a  child  of  ten  years  is  700  grammes  lighter 

*  Donaldson's  Growth  of  the  Brain,  p.  83. 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT.  335 

and  2  centimetres  taller  in  the  morning  after  a  night's 
rest,  and  that  during  the  day  he  is  losing  in  stature  and 
growing  in  weight.  The  child's  full  rest  for  this  nor- 
mal recovery  from  daily  stress  must  be  protected.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  practice  of  rushing  off  to  school 
with  little  breakfast,  to  be  followed  frequently  by  a 
cold,  inadequate  lunch  at  the  noon  hour,  can  not  be 
too  severely  condemned. 

The  centralized  school  plant  which  I  have  pre- 
sented will  probably  suggest  some  things  which  can  be 
immediately  incorporated  into  the  policies  of  existing 
schools  as  local  conditions  will  permit.  If  not,  then  the 
question  ought  to  be  forced  by  the  adoption  of  the 
larger  plan,  which  will  guarantee  these  important  pro- 
visions. The  plan  provides  a  campus  of  ten  acres  or 
more  for  each  one  thousand  pupils.  What  a  shame  it 
is  that  the  modern  school  has  no  place  or  time  for  the 
old-fashioned  free-play  recess  !  Can  the  abortion  of  five 
minutes,  with  restrained  movement  in  the  school  room, 
be  accounted  as  a  recess?  Most  certainly  not.  Of  the 
105  prominent  educators  and  physicians  answering  Dr. 
Stuver's  question,  all  but  four  strongly  favoured  the 
open-air  recess  and  spontaneous  play.  But  even  the 
old-fashioned  recess  can  be  gloriously  lifted  by  the  gen- 
eral play  with  the  association  of  teachers,  as  in  the 
schools  of  Andover.  Then  the  return  once  more  to  con- 
tact with  the  soil  and  care  for  growing  and  living  things 
— what  a  field  offered  by  the  school  gardens!  Pure  air, 
abundant  and  free  on  the  playground,  and  taken  in 
at  higher  levels,  flooded  without  draft  through  the 
rooms,  to  be  removed  again  in  such  quantity  that  each 
child  may  have  his  3,000  cubic  feet  per  hour;  an  ha- 


336  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

bituation  to  a  lower  temperature  of  approximately  60 
degrees  (the  British  standard)  instead  of  70  degrees, 
which  is  more  generally  the  case  in  this  country;  and 
an  abundance  of  cleansing  and  purifying  sunshine — 
what  desirable  factors  in  the  growth  of  the  healthy 
child!  Says  Dr.  Galton:  *  "  Second  only  to  air  is  light 
and  sunshine  essential  for  growth  and  health;  and  it 
is  one  of  Nature's  most  powerful  assistants  in  enabling 
the  body  to  throw  off  those  conditions  which  we  call 
disease.  Not  only  daylight  but  sunlight;  indeed,  fresh 
air  must  be  sun-warmed,  sun-penetrated  air.  The  sun- 
shine of  a  December  day  has  been  recently  shown  to 
kill  the  spores  of  the  anthrax  bacillus." 

Our  school  plans  for  more  life  in  the  open  air  and 
for  the  cleansing  bath  of  sunshine  to  every  part  of  the 
building.  It  also  provides  for  a  healthful  site  and  per- 
fect sewerage;  a  dry  and  thoroughly  ventilated  sub- 
structure; walls  that  are  impervious  to  moisture  and 
yet  breathe ;  an  inner  finish  that  can  not  absorb  and 
can  be  easily  cleansed;  floors  of  hardwood,  closely 
matched,  treated  with  beeswax  and  turpentine,  free 
from  dust  and  constantly  purified;  walls  tinted  in  soft 
colours ;  pure  distilled  water ;  individual  cups  and  indi- 
vidual towels. 

The  school  rooms  are  all  one  story,  and  have  no 
stairs.  The  different  sections  are  connected  with  con- 
tinuous arcades,  closed  in  winter  and  open  in  summer. 
The  general  quadrangle  faces  the  southeast,  so  that 
every  wall  is  sun-bathed.  The  illumination  of  the  room 
is  from  overhead,  and  through  milk-white,  translucent 

*  Gallon's  Healthy  Hospitals,  p.  198. 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT.  337 

glass.  This  gives  indoor  work  the  natural  light,  flood- 
ing the  entire  room.  There  are  no  harsh  shadows. 
Every  child  gets  his  adequate  portion  of  light.  There 
are  no  dangerous  reflections  from  the  blackboard,  be- 
cause the  angle  of  reflection  can  not  reach  the  child. 
There  is  no  tendency  to  spots  on  the  cornea  from  per- 
verse light  nor  absence  of  perfect  illumination. 

"  Would  there  not  be  too  much  light  ? "  inquires 
some  one.  "It  seems  to  me  I  know  cases  which  would 
le  greatly  injured  ~by  your  flood  of  light." 

Cohn  and  Kotelmann  both  say  that  there  can  not 
be  too  much  light.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  our 
light  is  now  overhead.  This  is  the  natural  light,  from 
which  the  eye  is  protected  by  the  lid.  There  is  no 
shield  to  the  eye  from  lateral  light  admitted  at  low 
levels,  as  is  the  case  in  most  school  rooms.  There 
may  be  some  diseased  eyes  which  can  not  stand  full 
light.  These  are  largely  the  products  of  previous  living 
in  the  dark,  and  should  receive  special  attention. 

The  paper  on  which  the  books  are  printed  is  a  light 
yellow,  of  soft  background,  and  entirely  without  gloss. 
Books  printed  in  type  less  than  pica  are  not  used  in 
this  school.  There  is  also  a  discarding  of  excessively 
fine  work.  Writing  and  other  exercises,  requiring  fine 
co-ordination,  are  not  permitted  until  after  the  larger 
areas  of  the  brain  have  approximately  reached  their 
maximum  development. 

The  physical  training  is  in  the  hands  of  experts. 
There  is  a  careful  examination  of  each  pupil  to  note 
his  physical  condition;  watchful  care  is  exercised  to  de- 
tect weaknesses  or  exceptional  needs ;  and  daily  medical 
inspection  wards  off  the  entrance  of  disease.  The 


338  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

school  works  on  the  hypothesis  that  almost  every  dul- 
lard, dunce,  or  depraved  child  is  largely  so  because  of 
physical  defects  or  malformations;  and  special  atten- 
tion is  given  accordingly.  The  furniture  is  adjustable 
and  of  varied  kinds;  and  great  care  is  given,  in  every 
department  of  the  work,  to  get  away  from  the  practices 
which  make  man  so  much  a  sitting  animal.  Individual 
advice  is  given  all  special  cases  as  to  foods  of  greatest 
individual  value;  and,  in  every  case,  pure  water  is  in- 
sisted upon.  The  school,  also,  has  its  own  baths,  where, 
at  prescribed  hours,  pupils  may  have  instruction  in 
swimming  and  other  facilities. 

The  course  of  study  is  built  on  the  hypothesis  that 
the  order  of  the  development  of  the  brain  must  be  fol- 
lowed; that  there  are  certain  nascent  periods  when 
budding  strengths  make  formal  work  easy;  and  that 
there  is  no  gain  in  forcing  these  periods.  It  therefore 
recognises  that  the  infant  is  safest  in  the  care  of  the 
mother.  Approximately,  the  years  of  five,  six,  and 
seven  are  given  to  the  play  school;  eight,  nine,  and 
ten  are  given  to  the  alphabetic  school,  where  the  child 
gets  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  alphabets  of  read- 
ing and  numbers  and  his  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  han- 
dling of  working  tools;  eleven,  twelve,  and  thirteen  are 
termed  the  years  of  full  childhood,  and  are  given  to 
a  general  survey  of  the  field  that  will  enable  later  choice 
to  be  more  intelligent;  the  year  fourteen  is  a  year  of 
relaxation;  fifteen,  sixteen,  and  seventeen  are  full  of 
the  overflow  of  adolescent  energy,  which  must  be  occu- 
pied and  given  wide  choice  and  freedom  for  personal 
convictions;  and  the  college,  with  its  greater  altruism 
and  need  of  general  culture,  and  the  university,  with 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT. 

its  specialization,  follow.  It  will  be  seen  (Chapters  VII, 
IX,  X)  that  there  is  much  contact  with  Nature,  books 
are  subordinated  to  their  proper  place,  there  is  much 
individual  choice,  and  that  the  general  course  of  study 
is  subject  to  unlimited  individual  variations. 

While  the  school  recognises  the  essential  values  in 
careful  physical  training,  it  also  holds  that  there  are 
intrinsic  physical  values  in  proper  mental  activities. 
The  history  of  all  greatness  goes  to  show  that  the  nor- 
mal activity  of  the  mind  plays  its  important  part  in 
determining  the  longevity  of  different  individuals.  The 
old  theory  that  brain  work  must  be  attended  with  phys- 
ical deterioration  is  not  countenanced.  The  healthiest 
child  or  man  is  the  one  who  has  the  poise  which  comes 
from  regular  hours  of  mental  activity,  interesting  pur- 
suits, proper  habits  of  work,  and  the  delights  of  per- 
sonal accomplishment.  The  work  of  the  school,  then, 
in  all  its  play,  physical  training,  study,  investigation, 
and  construction,  is  a  unit  in  the  furtherance  of  the 
personal  health  of  each  individual. 

Our  school  recognises  the  right  of  the  pupil  to  be 
absent  on  necessity,  to  come  for  a  part  of  a  day  only, 
or  to  be  irregular  in  days.  When  the  pupil  is  sick,  he 
has  relaxation ;  when  he  returns  convalescent,  he  is  not 
pressed  to  keep  up  with  his  class,  and  doubly  pressed 
to  make  up  what  he  has  lost.  There  is  no  unnatural 
penalty  for  weakness.  He  may  take  the  full  course  of 
study,  or  less  or  more;  and  he  may  do  the  work  in 
his  own  time. 

"  But,"  says  Dr.  Antiquarian,  "  if  you  have  no  home 
study,  what  will  occupy  the  time  of  the  pupils  during 
the  evening  hours?  It  seems  to  me  they  will  run  to 


340  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

social  excesses,  which  will  be  more  harmful  than  the 
effects  of  evening  study." 

The  studies  of  Dr.  Tuckerman*  do  not  show  this  to 
be  the  case.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  all 
the  education  of  a  child  is  comprehended  in  that  offered 
by  the  school.  The  child  needs  time  for  social  recrea- 
tion, for  home  duties,  for  attendance  on  church,  lec- 
tures and  musicals,  and  for  voluntary  readings  and 
creations.  There  are  infinite  values  in  education  out- 
side of  the  school.  As  a  rule,  the  audiences  which  greet 
the  most  instructive  lecturers  contain  no  high-school 
students,  because  the  pupils  are  led  to  believe  that  they 
can  not  afford  to  give  up  a  lesser  for  a  greater  value, 
and  therefore  are  educated  to  minimize  the  great  edu- 
cational opportunities  outside  of  the  school.  Dr.  Ed-, 
ward  Everett  Hale,  as  he  told  me,  one  day  said  to 
his  son,  "Wendell  Phillips  is  to  speak  in  Boston  to- 
night; I  would  like  to  have  you  go  and  hear  him." 
"  But,  father,"  said  the  son,  "  I  have  not  time.  I  have 
80  lines  of  Virgil  for  to-morrow's  lesson  and  I  must  get 
them."  "  My  son,"  said  the  father,  "  what  are  80  lines 
of  Virgil  to  the  privilege  of  hearing  Wendell  Phillips?  " 
Notwithstanding  all  that  could  be  said,  the  boy  held  to 
his  preparation  for  the  school;  "and  thus,"  said  Dr. 
Hale,  "for  the  paltry  value  contained  in  80  lines  of 
Virgil  my  son  missed  hearing  the  greatest  orator  of 
his  day." 

It  is  also  true  that  the  school  child  is  usually 
crowded  for  time.  Under  the  unfavourable  circum- 
stances of  evening  study  he  must  spend  at  home  twice 

*  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  cv. 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT. 

as  much  time  in  doing  a  piece  of  work  as  would  be  re- 
quired in  the  better  school.  He  carries  the  worry  of 
his  work  to  his  bed,  does  not  recover  in  the  night  per- 
fectly from  the  fatigue  of  the  day,  and  goes  to  the 
school  in  the  morning  mortgaged  in  strength,  when  he 
should  be  fresh  and  vigorous.  Too  frequently  the  child 
gets  his  lessons  on  Sunday,  which,  in  the  ethics  of  the 
home,  is  not  considered  work,  because  it  is  from  a 
book.  He  thus,  perhaps  by  desultory  work  which  the 
school  encourages,  works  more  hours  in  the  day  than 
the  adult  man,  and  frequently  more  days  in  the  week. 
It  is  by  reliance  on  the  greater  conditioning  values 
of  better  health  that  our  ideal  school  does  in 
short  hours  what  before  has  taken  much  greater 
time. 

Beyond  all  this,  I  believe,  under  proper  restrictions, 
in  the  rest  and  change  which  come  from  social  recrea- 
tions; and  in  the  opportunity  for  much  spontaneous 
home  work,  growing  out  of  the  suggestions  of  the  school 
and  associate  agencies. 

"  I  am  very  glad,"  remarks  Dr.  Progressive,  "  to 
hear  you  say  this.  There  certainly  has  been  a  large 
amount  of  poor  health  among  school  children,  which, 
whether  caused  or  not  by  the  school,  ought  to  be  cor- 
rected by  the  school.  Dr.  Tuckerman,  in  his  investi- 
gations, to  which  reference  has  been  made,  after  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  health  of  school  children  as  affected  by 
home  study  and  social  recreations,  says:  '  111  health 
among  scholars  increases  directly  as  the  amount  of  time 
spent  in  study  beyond  school  hours  and  inversely  as 
the  amount  of  recreation  taken.' " 

"Do  you  mean  to  imply,"  inquires  some  worthy 


342  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

clergyman,  "  that  good  health  is  an  essential  condition 
of  better  morals  ?  " 

Not  an  essential  condition  but  a  very  helpful 
one.  With  all  respect  for  the  work  of  the  Sabbath- 
school,  and  I  yield  to  no  man  in  my  estimate  of  its 
worth,  I  am  ready  to  say  that  character  is  better  made 
in  the  kitchen  than  in  the  Sabbath-school.  Undoubtedly 
there  are  exceptional  cases  where  great  beauty  in  moral 
worth  has  been  attained  by  people  in  poor  health;  but 
poor  health  is  abnormal,  and,  as  a  rule,  does  not  condi- 
tion the  child  or  man  for  moral  excellence.  Dr.  John- 
son used  to  say,  "  Every  man  is  a  rascal  when  he  is 
sick." 

"  I  do  not  agree,"  says  Dr.  Patent  Medicine,  "  with 
all  this  doctrine  about  the  differentiations  of  different 
children  and  their  various  needs.  Now,  my  practice  is 
to  give  them  all  a  dose  out  of  the  same  bottle,  and  if 
that  does  not  cure,  to  keep  it  up  until  it  does." 

"  And  I,"  exclaims  Dr.  Olden  Times,  coming  to  the 
rescue,  "  bleed  them  all  alike,  or  give  them  a  good-sized 
pill  of  blue-mass.  I  tell  you  there  is  nothing  like  some- 
thing drastic  to  bring  people  around  when  they  are  a 
little  out  of  order." 

"  And  I,"  says  Dr.  Procrustes,  "  always  try  to  fix 
my  patients  so  that  they  can  walk  and  move  with  some 
balance.  If  one  leg  is  too  short,  I  stretch  it  a  little.  If 
the  other  is  too  long,  I  whack  it  off.  That's  the  easiest 
way  of  giving  balance  to  people.  There  is  nothing  like 
equipoise,  balance,  and  symmetry." 

Perhaps  that  is  the  easiest  way.  At  least  it  is 
the  treatment  which  children  too  often  receive  in  the 
schools. 


SOMETHING  FOR  PHYSICIANS  TO  THINK  ABOUT.  343 

"  I  like  very  much,"  says  Dr.  Twentieth  Century, 
"  the  plans  which  have  been  presented.  If  education  is 
to  be  true  to  its  mission,  it  must  comprehend  the  whole 
man.  If  it  is  to  lift  man  to  any  high  results,  it  must 
take  time  to  build  its  foundations  well.  If  education 
and  medicine  are  ever  to  be  scientific  they  must  be  in- 
dividual. It  seems  to  me  not  unreasonable  to  think  that 
the  child  has  a  right  to  expect,  not  a  discriminating 
rank,  not  a  false  honour,  not  a  diploma  which  means 
little,  but  good  health  as  the  first  instalment  of  his 
qualifying  education.  I  like  very  much  the  statement 
made  by  President  Hall:  e  A  toil  of  knowledge  bought 
at  the  expense  of  an  ounce  of  health,  which  is  the  most 
ancient  and  precious  form  of  wealth  and  worth,  costs 
more,  than  its  value.  Better  Tolstoi's  kind  of  liberty, 
or  the  old  knightly  contempt  of  pen  and  book  work  as 
the  knack  of  craven,  thin-blooded  clerks;  better  idyllic 
ignorance  of  even  the  invention  of  Cadmus,  if  the  worst 
that  the  modern  school  now  causes  must  be  taken  in 
order  to  get  the  best  it  has  to  give/  " 


24 


CKAPTEE   XVI. 

THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  SCHOOL. 

"  The  real  democratic  American  idea  is,  not  that  a  man  should 
be  on  the  level  with  every  other  man,  but  that  every  man  shall  be 
what  God  made  him  without  let  or  hindrance ;  that  there  shall 
be  no  prejudice  against  him  if  he  is  high  and  that  no  disgrace 
shall  attach  to  him  if  he  is  low ;  that  he  shall  have  supreme  pos- 
session of  what  he  has  and  what  he  is ;  that  he  should  have  liberty 
to  use  his  powers  in  any  proper  direction."  (Beecher.) 

CHARACTER  is  not  the  product  merely  of  Bible  read- 
ing and  attendance  upon  the  Sabbath  service,  although 
these  are  intrinsically  important  and  contributive,  but 
of  every  thought,  word,  and  act  of  daily  life.  If  we 
wish  to  lift  the  children  of  the  home  and  the  school 
into  an  atmosphere  of  ethics,  we  must  start  on  the  basis 
that  every  exercise  of  the  school  is  potential  in  oppor- 
tunity for  higher  living  and  higher  realization.  Says 
Henry  Withington:  "Every  word  of  our  lips,  every 
thought  of  our  brain,  every  act  of  our  feet,  every 
emotion  of  the  heart,  and  every  vision  of  our  fancy, 
might  be  looked  upon  as  so  many  dancing  leaves  in  an 
autumn  wind,  tossed  hither,  rising  now,  floating  there, 
but  in  the  end  all  falling  to  the  ground,  all  soaked  to- 
gether in  a  cold  clammy  moss  by  the  dews  and  rain  of 
successive  nightfalls,  all  melted  together  at  last  in  the 
heats  of  trial  and  crowded  together  under  the  pressure 
344 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  SCHOOL.        345 

of  adversity,  and  cooled  together  in  the  winters  of  deso- 
lation, till  in  the  end  they  make  the  rock  which  we  call 
Character." 

With  this  lofty  conception  it  is  not  well  to  check 
the  child  at  every  point  of  spontaneous  action ;  it  is  not 
well  to  break  his  will;  it  is  not  well  to  have  him  rest 
under  the  realization  that  the  detective's  eye  is  ever 
on  him,  and  to  bring  him  up  under  the  morbid  concep- 
tion that  he  is  constantly  doing  wrong.  Froebel  says 
"  the  unconsciousness  of  the  child  is  rest  in  God."  And 
so  also  it  is  a  good  thing  for  any  child  or  man  for  ever 
to  realize  that  he  is  a  son  of  God.  The  school  room, 
therefore,  should  always  be  a  bright,  sunny  place, 
illumined  by  the  teacher's  smile,  vitalized  by  the  teach- 
er's inspiration,  ennobled  by  the  pupil's  best  work,  and 
baptized  by  the  teacher's  benediction.  To  leave  a  child 
under  the  frown  of  the  law,  with  all  his  inner  vindictive 
nature  stirred  within  him  under  an  attempt  to  break 
his  will,  is  to  leave  his  soul  in  hell  for  that  length  of 
time.  He  should  be  lifted  out  of  himself  at  the  first 
possible  moment ;  and  this  can  only  be  done  by  the  win- 
ning presence  of  the  great  sunshiny  life,  which  tempers 
justice  with  mercy  and  offers  the  guide-star  of  hope. 
How  important,  then,  it  is  that  those  who  are  chosen 
to  teach  should  be  masters  of  their  own  lives,  and,  by 
the  permeation  of  human  sunshine,  should  be  able  to 
establish  in  the  school  room  that  atmosphere  which 
types  the  spirit  of  God! 

Every  exercise  of  the  school  room  should  be  full 
of  ethical  potentiality.  If  it  is  not,  it  has  no  place  in 
the  school.  For  this  reason,  the  programme  should 
be  flexible.  Because  of  this,  also,  the  keys  to  interest 


346  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

should  be  individual.  If  one  key  will  not  answer,  an- 
other should  be  tried  at  once.  Within  every  heart  is 
a  germ  of  divinity,  which  will  respond  to  life  when  given 
its  own  culture;  but,  to  any  great  extent,  this  culture 
is  not  possible  under  the  incarceration  of  uniformity. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  realize  that  good  health  is 
normal  and  poor  health  is  abnormal.  Almost  all  crim- 
inals are  defectives  physically.  The  human  organism 
is  such  a  bundle  of  reactions  and  reflexes  that  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  have  moral  wealth  without  physical 
health;  at  least,  the  latter  largely  conditions  the  former. 
The  child  needs  life  in  the  sunshine.  He  needs  refresh- 
ing sleep  and  well-selected,  wholesome  food.  He  needs 
normal  hours  for  work.  He  needs  an  abundance  of 
opportunity  for  pent-up  energy  to  express  itself  in  play, 
and  in  that  which  is  related  to  play.  Good  health  must 
be  recognised  as  the  basis  not  only  of  intellectual  en- 
deavour, but  also  of  moral  achievement.  The  normal 
body  must  be  the  dwelling-place  of  the  normal  soul. 
Attention  to  matters  of  health,  therefore,  can  not  be 
too  important;  for,  as  President  Hall  has  well  put  it, 
"  He  who  is  true  to  his  body,  which  is  the  temple  of  the 
Highest,  can  not  be  unfaithful  to  his  soul." 

The  mainspring  of  character  is  motive.*  When  evil 
thoughts  arise  from  any  other  causes  they  are  misfor- 
tunes; when  they  follow  motive  they  are  crimes.  The 
realization  that  character  is  not  a  chance  product,  but 
the  direct  result  of  volition,  can  not  find  a  place  too 
early  in  our  schools.  To  that  end  there  must  be  ban- 
ished from  the  schools  all  unnatural  incentives.  Per 

*  Search.    Motives,  Manual  Two,  Los  Angeles  Public  Schools. 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  SCHOOL.        347 

cents,  prizes,  markings,  and  discriminating  honours  are 
all  rewards  which  are  false  to  the  best  ethical  interests 
of  the  child.  The  child  who  is  taught  to  work  for  such 
an  incentive  is  bribed,  be  it  even  in  committing  to  mem- 
ory a  passage  of  Scripture;  he  is  bought  with  a  price, 
and  to  that  extent  debauched  and  demoralized.  He  is 
not  lifted  into  an  atmosphere  of  ethical  influence.  For 
the  time  being  he  spurts  well,  but  he  is  seldom  a  con- 
tinuous worker  after  his  false  objective  is  gone.  The 
pupil  must  be  trained  to  work  because  all  work  is  its 
own  reward,  contributive  to  his  own  and  the  happiness 
of  others.  If  work  can  not  be  accomplished  with  this 
high  motive,  it  were  better  left  undone. 

There  is  ethical  impulse  in  happiness.  Every  child 
has  a  heaven-born  right  to  be  happy.  To  this  end  the 
*  basis  of  the  child's  gradation  in  the  school  should  be 
the  place  where  he  can  be  the  happiest.  Shall  it  be 
with  the  teacher  who  sours  everything  she  touches? 
By  no  means.  Shall  it  be  with  children  years  younger, 
as  is  often  the  case  in  schools?  Certainly  not;  he 
should  be  grouped  more  nearly  with  his  playmates. 
The  details  of  their  work  may  be  heavy,  but  its  sugges- 
tions will  be  much.  If  the  pupil  is  slow  in  pace,  shall 
he  be  discouraged  by  being  plunged  into  difficulties 
beyond  his  comprehension ;  or,  if  he  can  travel  rapidly, 
shall  he  be  encouraged  to  idleness  and  have  the  ambi- 
tion taken  out  of  him  because  he  must  wait  for  others 
to  catch  up?  Is  there  ethical  promise  in  the  dead  ex- 
ercise of  the  school,  in  which  many  of  the  class  are 
killing  time  while  a  few  are  reciting?  Is  there  hope 
to  the  stranded  pupil  who  realizes  that  he  is  at  the 
foot  of  the  class,  to  be  always  laughed  at;  that  he  is 


348  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

a  miserable  misfit ;  and  that  the  sooner  he  is  out  of  the 
way  the  better?  Is  not  a  misfit  the  greatest  problem 
in  all  the  realm  of  ethics? 

On  the  other  hand,  is  there  not  resurrection  to  the 
child  in  the  realization  that  the  work  perfectly  fits  his 
working  needs,  that  his  place  is  just  as  important  as 
that  of  any  other  worker,  that  he  also  is  a  discoverer 
and  contributor  to  the  happiness  of  others,  and  that 
the  offering  he  brings  to  the  altar  for  the  benediction 
of  his  teacher  is  the  very  best  thing  which  he  can  then 
produce?  To  a  child  thus  placed  and  thus  occupied 
life  takes  on  meaning  at  every  step.  He  is  conscious 
of  a  welling  up  within  him  of  personal  happiness.  He 
is  proud  of  his  work,  and  he  promises  himself  that  to- 
morrow's achievements  will  be  greater  than  to-day's. 
He  is  not  measured  by  the  capabilities  of  others,  and 
he  realizes  that  the  school  is  just. 

Every  child  is  entitled  to  all  the  opportunity  he  can 
properly  utilize.  There  is  life  and  strength  in  living 
up  to  the  top  of  one's  endeavours;  but  these  tops  are 
not  the  same  for  all  persons.  The  pupil  in  the  school 
is  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  producing  the  best  that 
is  within  him.  If  he  can  do  much,  that  much  is  his 
privilege ;  but  if  he  can  do  only  little,  he  has  a  divine 
right  to  do  that  little  well.  If  uniformity  should  gov- 
ern all  the  operations  of  men  we  should  have  no  great 
things  in  science,  literature,  industry,  or  art.  If  the 
school  is  to  be  life,  it  must  conform  its  practices  to  life. 
Every  rise  to  greatness  follows  opportunity,  and  every 
failure  to  present  opportunity  surrounds  man  with  an 
atmosphere  which  violates  all  the  laws  of  ethical 
growth. 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF   THE  SCHOOL.       349 

To  grow  strong,  to  take  pride  in  one's  work,  and  to 
deserve  reward  in  the  school,  in  life,  or  in  heaven,  man 
must  have  opportunity  for  choice.  In  no  other  way  can 
character  be  made.  To  have  the  steps  of  one's  pro- 
cedure mapped  out  by  the  school,  to  follow  a  given 
course  of  study  with  little  opportunity  for  personal  de- 
cision, is  to  render  weak  the  character  which  the  school 
should  make  strong.  At  every  step  of  the  way  the  pupil 
needs  opportunity  for  self-government,  for  the  election 
of  the  steps  of  his  procedure,  for  the  decision  of  that 
which  entails  consequences.  There  is  little  virtue  in 
being  good  if  one  has  not  had  opportunity  to  do  wrong. 
No  enduring  strength  to  resist  temptation  comes  ex- 
cepting as  the  soul  has  been  made  strong  through  con- 
flict. There  is  no  pleasure  in  study,  in  discovery,  or 
in  achievement,  excepting  as  one  reaches  results  by 
determinative  volition.  The  very  consciousness  of 
choice  involves  also  the  realization  of  responsibility; 
and  the  greatness  of  all  responsibility  is  that  it  is  in- 
dividual. 

Then,  in  the  school,  the  child  should  have  opportu- 
nity for  choice  at  every  step  of  the  way.  From  the 
teacher  he  should  have  opportunity,  counsel,  direction, 
and  encouragement;  but  from  himself  must  come  the 
initiative  which  is  to  produce  results.  In  school  gov- 
ernment he  must  be  his  own  dictator,  judge,  and  jury. 
In  discovery  he  must  be  original  as  far  as  he  can  go. 
In  the  selection  of  courses  of  study  and  in  the  pur- 
suance of  his  work  he  must  early  come  to  decision; 
for  in  no  other  way  will  his  work  be  vitalized  by  pur- 
pose. 

Is  not  this  the   fundamental  plan  in   all   divine 


350  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

economy?  Does  not  God  give  to  every  man  opportu- 
nity and  presence,  with  the  necessity  for  responsible  de- 
cision at  every  point  of  the  way?  Are  not  the  great 
fundamental  doctrines  of  God's  sovereignty  and  man's 
free  will  perfectly  consistent  and  complemental  ?  Could 
strong,  trustworthy,  and  laudable  character  be  made  in 
any  other  way?  If,  then,  this  is  the  divine  plan,  how 
can  the  school  improve  upon  it? 

The  true  worth  of  all  character  is  measured  in  terms 
of  service.  What  is  a  man's  life  worth  if  not  to  enrich 
others  ?  So  the  product  of  the  school  is  valued  at  what 
it  is  worth  to  the  community;  of  the  individual,  at  what 
he  can  offer  his  fellows.  The  pupil  trained  as  an  indi- 
vidual unit  has  a  clearer  vision  of  life.  He  knows  the 
steps  by  which  man  climbs  to  greatness.  He  realizes 
the  weight  of  personal  responsibility.  He  is  interested 
most  in  the  community,  because  he  has  something 
with  which  to  enrich  it.  He  has  not  been  trained  in 
isolation,  as  many  would  think.  His  choice,  his  steps, 
his  rate  of  progress,  and  his  discoveries  only  have  been 
individual.  He  has  been  federated  at  every  step  of 
the  way  with  the  group,  the  class,  and  the  school; 
but,  in  his .  federation,  he  listens  all  the  more  interest- 
edly because  others  have  something  fresh  to  offer  him, 
and  he  is  heard  always  with  the  greater  delight  be- 
cause what  he  himself  contributes  has  the  greater 
value. 

Association,  opportunity,  motive,  choice,  and  re- 
sponsibility— these  are  the  great  cardinal  factors  in  the 
making  of  character.  The  pupil  trained  therein,  and  he 
can  not  begin  too  early,  is  strong  for  all  the  respon- 
sibilities of  citizenship  and  of  life.  Whenever  a  child  is 


THE  ETHICAL  BASIS  OF  THE  SCHOOL.        351 

given  a  piece  of  work  which  is  absolutely  his  own,  that 
piece  of  work  if  well  done,  however  little  or  great  it  may 
be,  becomes  to  him  a  source  of  conscious  pride  which 
may  contain  the  salvation  of  his  entire  after-life.  That 
pupil,  so  trained  through  the  processes  of  years,  be- 
comes the  trustworthy  citizen.  "  Is  not  that  the  best 
education,"  says  Plato,  "  which  gives  to  the  mind  and  to 
the  soul  all  the  force,  all  the  beauty,  and  all  the  perfec- 
tion of  which  they  are  capable  ?  " 

So  in  this  great  country  of  ours,  as  Dr.  Edward 
Everett  Hale  has  so  well  put  it,*  "  every  child  is  a 
prince  "  to  be  trained  for  responsible  leadership.  Napo- 
leon, in  his  contemplated  training  of  the  young  king 
of  Rome,  summoned  the  wisest  men  of  the  nation  to 
plan  an  education  which  should  be  fitting  the  royal 
pupil.  Aristotle  was  intrusted  with  the  training  of 
Alexander;  and  to  Fenelon  was  given  the  education  of 
the  young  Duke  of  Burgundy;  but  in  this  country, 
where  every  man  is  his  own  priest  and  king,  we  have  a 
greater  prince  to  be  educated.  Is  any  price  too  great  to 
pay  for  his  culture  and  training?  Shall  we  not  equip 
him  for  the  great  responsible  place  he  is  to  occupy  in 
the  field  of  human  action? 

"  How  shall  we  train  our  prince  ?    To  rule  his  land, 
Love  justice  and  love  honour.     For  them  both 
He  girds  himself  and  serves  her,  nothing  loath. 
Although  against  a  host  in  arms  he  stand, 
Ruling  himself,  the  world  he  may  command ; 
Taught  to  serve  her  in  honour  and  truth, 
Baby  and  boy  and  in  his  lusty  youth, 
He  finds  archangels'  help  on  either  hand. 

*  Hale's  Education  of  a  Prince.    Chautauquan,  vol.  xx. 


352  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

"  The  best  the  world  can  teach  him  he  shall  know, 
The  best  his  land  can  give  him,  he  shall  see, 

And  trace  the  footsteps  where  his  fathers  trod ; 
See  all  the  beauty  that  the  world  can  show, 
And  how  it  is  that  freedom  makes  men  free, 
And  how  such  freemen  love  and  serve  their  God." 

NOTE. — For  a  fuller  treatment  of  this  important  subject  by  the 
writer,  see  article  The  Ethics  of  the  New  Education,  Educational 
Review,  February,  1896 ;  also  in  pamphlet  form. 


CHAPTEK   XVII. 

IN   CONCLUSION. 

AND  now,  good  friend  and  critic,  to  this  constructive 
presentation  two  or  three  reminders  should  be  added. 

If  this  discussion  has  in  any  of  its  parts  seemed 
severely  critical,  such  criticism  has  been  aimed  at  the 
weaknesses  and  not  at  the  soul  of  the  public-school 
system.  I  love  the  public  schools  and  champion  their 
great  potentiality.  Undoubtedly  they  have  accom- 
plished much  good,  but  they  could  do  more.  Not  for 
a  moment  would  a  single  straw  be  added  to  the  burden 
of  work  now  carried  by  faithful  teachers ;  but  to  these 
teachers  would  be  given  opportunity  for  growth,  initia- 
tive, essential  results,  and  the  delights  of  high  think- 
ing. The  attempt  is  here  made  not  merely  to  point 
out  the  weaknesses  of  our  great  educational  system, 
but,  by  way  of  illustration,  to  offer  something  construc- 
tive for  its  improvement.  The  public  schools  are  not 
ideal. 

The  plan  which  has  been  presented  is  not  the  idle 
dreaming  of  a  theorist,  but  the  gathering  together  of 
the  best  things  in  the  ripe  experiences  of  many  schools. 
These  different  factors,  as  has  been  evidenced  by  abun- 
dant illustration,  have  been,  in  almost  every  instance, 
thoroughly  tried.  It  only  remains  that  they  should  be 

353 


354  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

put  together  in  a  single  structure,  and  the  result  will 
be  An  Ideal  School. 

In  your  consideration  of  these  many  specifications, 
I  beg  you  will  not  view  them  only  in  part,  or  the  object 
you  may  see  will  not  be  a  very  practical  or  finished 
structure.  Some  of  the  features  are  so  radical  that 
they  must  be  seen  in  their  entire  correlations  in  order 
to  be  fully  understood.  If  the  plan  is  anything,  it  is 
comprehensive;  and  the  illustrations,  it  is  hoped,  are 
sufficiently  abundant  to  make  clear  every  point  pre- 
sented. I  beg  of  you,  therefore,  that  you  will  exam- 
ine these  specifications  in  their  entirety  before  you 
proceed  to  pass  judgment  on  any  one  or  more  of 
them. 

Perhaps  the  section  which  will  be  the  most  criti- 
cised is  the  argument  for  the  centralization  of  all  a 
city's  schools  on  a  single  park;  but  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury has  not  yet  passed,  and  stranger  things  than  this 
have  happened  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Doubtless, 
our  cities,  as  they  are  now  controlled,  will  not  be  in 
haste  to  adopt  such  an  ideal  plan;  but  some  city  or 
town  may  adopt  the  plan,  as  some  are  even  now  approx- 
imating it,  and  to  that  community  will  come  a  profound 
influence  and  leadership  in  solving  the  question,  How 
shall  we  overcome  the  economic  losses  attending  the 
trend  of  life  from  the  country  to  the  city?  A  cen- 
tralized school  plant  is  not  essential  to  the  application 
of  the  educational  principles  involved  in  the  discussion 
of  methods  of  instruction;  but  it  is  advocated  for  con- 
sideration wherever  approximately  possible  as  an  ex- 
ceedingly desirable  adjunct  in  the  unfolding  of  a  com- 
plete plan  of  ideal  education.  At  the  very  least,  the 


IN  CONCLUSION.  355 

argument  for  larger  school  grounds,  in  some  form,  will 
stand. 

I  repeat  once  more  what  has  been  already  several 
times  stated:  this  is  not  a  method  excepting  in  the 
barest  outlines;  but  citations  of  many  methods  have 
been  made  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  essential  prin- 
ciples. Methods  must  vary  endlessly  with  the  personnel 
of  teachers,  circumstances,  subjects,  grades,  objectives, 
etc.  Attention  is  called  to  the  fact,  easily  overlooked, 
that  nowhere  in  these  pages  is  this  called  The  Ideal 
School — but  An  Ideal  School. 

These  plans  are  applicable,  with  proper  modifica- 
tion and  adaptation,  to  a  school  system  of  any  size. 
However,  I  am  not  so  sanguine  as  to  think  that  they 
will  meet  with  any  immediate  or  wide  adoption 
excepting  as  they  will  perhaps  work  their  way  un- 
recognised and  unconsciously  into  the  evolution  of 
school  policies.  An  ideal  school  can  not  be  built  at 
present  within  the  borders  of  the  public-school  system. 
The  conditions  are  too  changeable.  Plans  can  not  be 
sufficiently  continuous  and  comprehensive.  The  envi- 
ronments are  such  that  aims,  purposes,  and  results  are 
too  easily  misunderstood.  The  planner  can  not  select 
in  order  to  effect.  There  can  not  be  opportunity  for 
quick  readjustment  and  correction  of  weaknesses,  which 
is  absolutely  essential  in  the  performance  of  original 
work.  It  takes  time  to  build  a  school  even  under  the 
most  favourable  conditions. 

An  ideal  school,  then,  for  its  full  fruition  and  ef- 
fective demonstration,  must  be  built  outside  the  public- 
school  system  and  as  a  philanthropic  enterprise.  Its 
control  would  then  be  continuous;  its  purposes  better 


356  AN  IDEAL  SCHOOL. 

understood ;  its  plan  more  comprehensive ;  its  structure 
more  corrective;  its  budding  and  flowering  and  fruit- 
ing more  true  to  their  seasons.  Such  a  school  would 
be  an  ideal  for  all  the  world.  It  might  not  see  its 
plans  bodily  reduplicated,  but  it  would  leaven  and  re- 
construct in  time  the  entire  educational  system.  It 
would  be  a  practical  demonstration,  impossible  under 
the  environments  of  the  public-school  system,  of  heights 
to  which  schools  have  never  yet  reached;  and  it  would 
establish  claims  which  would  demand  a  recognition  in 
the  educational  policies  of  the  world.  The  building  and 
maintenance,  for  a  year  or  two,  of  such  a  system  in  a 
town  or  city,  or  part  of  a  city  of  sufficient  size  to  make 
the  school  comprehensive,  would  establish  a  line  of 
ideals  which  would  make  impossible  return  to  the  usual 
system. 

What  a  great  opportunity  is  this  for  some  multi- 
millionaire! In  these  days  when  the  generosity  of  the 
rich  man  is  so  expressing  itself  in  the  enrichment  of 
types  of  higher  institutions  already  largely  determined, 
what  a  great  field  is  this  for  some  one,  happier  in 
thought  than  the  rest,  who  wishes  to  go  to  the  bottom 
of  things  and  upbuild  an  institution  which  will  lift  all 
educational  life,  because  it  is  genetic  and  presents  ideals 
which,  in  time,  will  transform  the  school  policies  of 
the  world! 

Why  should  only  the  higher  institutions  receive  the 
encouragement  of  philanthropy  and  endowment  in  their 
original  work?  Almost  every  great  educational  move- 
ment of  the  day  comes  from  outside  the  formal  system 
of  schools  and  is  ingrafted  only  on  the  demonstration 
of  its  possibilities.  The  greatest  field  in  all  education 


IN  CONCLUSION.  357 

is  that  which  comprehends  the  care  and  culture  of  chil- 
dren, and  yet  this  is  but  poorly  developed.  An  ideal 
school,  built  under  favourable  conditions,  for  the  dem- 
onstration of  great  -possibilities  in  the  better  education 
of  children,  would  lift  the  college  and  the  university; 
but  above  that  it  would  reconstruct  the  entire  system 
of  the  education  of  the  young. 


(8) 


THE   END. 


JP 


DAY  U.c 


••:.     »* 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


